Kaliganj blast: Fifth arrest made, victim’s mother rejects TMC aid
The Statesman | 26 June 2025
As the fifth arrest was made on Wednesday in the horrific bomb blast that killed 13-year-old Tamanna Khatun in Nadia’s Kaliganj, emotions flared at the victim’s home when the girl’s grieving mother furiously rejected a monetary offer from Trinamul Congress MLA Humayun Kabir.
“If accused was a woman, I would have pulled her by the hair in rage,” she told reporters, accusing the ruling party of trying to silence her grief with money instead of justice.
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The fresh arrest of Shariful Sheikh, one of the 24 accused named in the family’s complaint — was confirmed by Krishnagar police district officials. He is the fifth person taken into custody in connection with the blast that ripped through Molandi village during a victory rally of the Trinamul Congress, celebrating the bypoll win of party candidate Alifa Ahmed.
While a four-member forensic team combed the blast site for clues, political leaders began visiting the bereaved family. But what was meant to be a gesture of solidarity quickly turned into a moment of raw confrontation. When MLA Kabir offered financial support to the family, Tamanna’s mother lashed out, demanding justice and accountability instead. “I asked him to seize all the bombs from the area. He had no answer and quietly left,” she said, rejecting what she called a hollow show of sympathy.
Kabir later claimed he had visited “as a human, not a politician,” and appealed to everyone to raise their voice against such crimes. But the family remains unconvinced.
Tamanna, a student of Class VII, was allegedly killed by splinters from a crude bomb hurled during the TMC’s victory procession on Monday. Her family claims their home was deliberately targeted because of their long-standing support for the CPI-M. The father, a migrant worker in Odisha, said: “Our family was attacked because of our political beliefs. We don’t trust the state police. We will go to the Calcutta High Court if necessary.”
Demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, the victim’s mother accused local police of shielding the real perpetrators. Her frustration mirrors growing public anger in Kaliganj, where the tragedy has come to symbolise the deadly intersection of politics and lawlessness. The mother, visibly distraught, echoed the community’s sentiment: “Our daughter was killed in cold blood. This cannot be buried under politics.”
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and sought answers from Krishnagar district superintendent of police Amarnath K. within 72 hours. The NCW has questioned whether police ensured adequate security for the procession, whether they had intelligence inputs warning of possible violence, and whether any arms or explosives were present during the rally.
As investigations continue and political tension escalates, Kaliganj remains a village scarred — not just by a bomb, but by a system in which mourning families are offered cash instead of justice.