Kolkata, July 24 (IANS) Approaching the Calcutta High Court with a plea for a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into a recent bomb blast in West Bengal has cost a district-level Trinamool Congress leader his primary membership.

Following an instruction issued by Trinamool Congress’ general secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee, the party leadership has expelled for life the vice-president of Trinamool Congress East Burdwan district committee, Suvendu Kumar Das, who is a practising advocate himself.

Confirming the development, Trinamool Congress’ East Burdwan district president and the party legislator from Katwa Assembly constituency, Rabindranath Chatterjee, said that Das filed a petition at the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday seeking an NIA probe in the incident of a bomb blast at Rajua village in the same district on July 4.

Chatterjee said that Das filed the petition without taking the party leadership into confidence. “I heard that Das filed a petition at the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday morning seeking an NIA investigation. I do not know why he filed such a petition. I had informed my leadership of the matter. Last night, instructions came from the leadership that Das should be expelled from the party for life. Accordingly, the action has been taken against him,” Chatterjee added.

He also said that when the party leadership had full faith in the credibility of the state police, the event of Das approaching the Calcutta High Court seeking an NIA probe, and that too in a state matter, was considered as an anti-party activity.

Das was not available for comment after he was expelled from the party.

On Wednesday, after moving the Calcutta High Court seeking an NIA probe, he said he filed the application with the Calcutta High Court for an NIA investigation in the interest of the safety of the local people.

“There was a big explosion, and one person died. Several people were injured. A house was blown away. I do not think it was a small incident,” Das said.

On July 4, one person died and three others were critically injured in a crude bomb blast in East Burdwan district’s Katwa. Following the incident, Chatterjee alleged that the crude bombs were being made in a house to target him.

The police recovered two firearms, bullets, and two kilograms of crude bomb manufacturing raw materials from the house of Tufan Chowdhury, the main accused in the bomb blast incident in Rajua village. He was produced before the Katwa court, which remanded him in jail custody for 14 days

–IANS

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