Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition, on Sunday wrote to Union home minister Amit Shah seeking an NIA probe into the blast at Bhupatinagar, East Midnapore, that killed three persons on Friday night.

The BJP leader’s letter detailing the incident and six other recent incidents of bomb explosions in the state seems to be his party’s strategy to corner Trinamul with yet another central agency probe before the rural polls.

“...the West Bengal Police is deliberately trying to hamper the investigation process, and doing their best to cover up the misdeeds of the TMC party leaders and workers, it has become necessary that the National Investigating Agency(NIA) conducts a fair investigation in the matter,” Adhikari wrote in his four-page letter.

The Nandigram MLA alleged crude bombs were being manufactured at the house of the deceased Rajkumar Manna. Apart from Manna, his brother Buddhadeb and fellow Trinamul worker Biswajit Gayen were killed.

A complaint was filed by Manna’s wife Latarani withBhupatinagar police, where she claimed that her husband was involved in manufacturing illegal crackers. She said the explosion occurred because her husband lit a smoke.

Negating her claims, local BJP leaders staged an agitation in front of the police station. Several saffron leaders said the impact of the explosion betrayed the claim of crackers.

Adhikari accused the Trinamul leadership and police of hushing up the matter.

“Strangely, the bodies of Rajkumar Manna and the others were found in the paddy fields, far from the house.... It’s pretty clear that there were attempts to hide the bodies after the explosion,” the BJP leader wrote.

“Why isn’t the NIA going to Tripura, where so many incidents of violence are happening? This is BJP’s plot to harass Trinamul,” said Trinamul leader Kunal Ghosh.