2021 Nimtita explosion: Special court acquits 3
The Statesman | 25 September 2025The court found no evidence linking Isha Khan, Abu Samad and Saidul Islam to the bombing, observing that none of the 62 witnesses testified to seeing them at the scene when the explosion occurred on 17 February, 2021. “The prosecution failed to establish that the accused were present at the spot during the blast,” the judge said, noting that test identification parades, documents and other materials placed on record could not prove their involvement. Initially, the state’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) handled the case, but within weeks the probe was transferred to the federal National Investigation Agency (NIA) on 3 March, 2021. All three men were arrested, with Samad and Islam later named in the NIA charge sheet.
According to court records, Hossain was preparing to board the Down Teesta Torsha Express along with 200 to 300 supporters at Nimtita station when crude bombs exploded on the platform. The minister sustained multiple injuries and spent weeks recovering. Defence lawyers argued that investigators lacked credible evidence and accused authorities of pursuing a politically charged probe. “The court has now confirmed what we maintained all along — that there was no proof tying these men to the incident,” Hossain’s lawyer said after the verdict. During the NIA’s investigation, Sutii legislator Imani Biswas of the ruling Trinamul Congress was summoned for questioning after the arrested men allegedly named him. Though no charges were filed against Biswas, the development fuelled speculation of a rift between him and Hossain, both members of the same party. The court also questioned why the country’s top anti-terror agency was tasked with investigating a case that appeared to stem from local rivalries. The acquittal marks a significant turn in a case that once rattled the state’s political establishment, coming months before West Bengal’s high-stakes assembly elections in 2021.
