Kaliganj blast case: Charge sheet filed against 10
The Statesman | 15 September 2025
In a significant breakthrough in the Molandi blast case that killed 9-year-old Tamanna Khatun during by-election celebrations, Kaliganj police today filed a voluminous charge sheet running into 340 pages against ten accused persons, all residents of Molandi village under Kaliganj police station, who are currently lodged in judicial custody.
The charge sheet, filed as Kaliganj PS Charge Sheet No. 1/25 dated 13 September, 2025, pertains to Case No. 534/2025 registered on 23 June under Sections 190, 191(2), 191(3), 118(2), 109, 103, 305 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.
Those charge-sheeted include Gaoyal Sk, Anowar Sk, Adar Sk, Manoyar Sk, Kalu @ Suklal Sk, Sariful Sk, Nabab Sk, Habibul @ Rahibul Sk, Bimal @ Arfan Sk, and Abul Kashem @ Bhutu — all hailing from Molandi. The police have named them for trial in open court while the probe continues against other 24 FIR-named suspects.
According to investigators, the charge sheet details the alleged roles and complicity of the accused in connection with the recovery and use of explosive substances. Crucial evidence, including forensic analysis reports from CFSL Kolkata, is awaited.
Police sources indicated that supplementary charge sheets may follow once the expert opinion and mandatory sanction from the district magistrate, Nadia, are secured.
The case has drawn wide attention due to the scale of the explosives seized and the alleged involvement of a close-knit group of villagers bound by familial ties. Police maintained that the investigation remains “very much alive” and that further arrests or additions to the charge sheet cannot be ruled out.
On 23 June, as the results of the Kaliganj bypoll were being announced, a victory procession in Molandi village turned deadly when a socket bomb—allegedly hurled by local miscreants—exploded, killing Tamanna Khatun on the spot. Her mutilated body, witnesses said, painted a horrifying picture of violence fuelled by political frenzy.