June 18, 2016
The death of two bomb squad officials at Malda’s Baisnabnagar earlier this year has sent the state CID’s elite bomb squad on a buying spree. It has ordered some of the costliest bomb detection devices from countries like US and Israel. “What you will essentially see is dependance on gadgets rather than putting an official directly in front of the explosive,” maintained a top source in the home department.
The state government is also planning to increase the insurance cover of these officers from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. The Mamata Banerjee government had earlier raised the insurance cover from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh in its first term. The CID has lost around five men in the past five years in explosions during the bomb de-activation operations.
CID sources revealed the push came after the investigation in to the Malda death pointed to “mistake” – mixing two powders while trying to remove the bombs – committed by the officers at the spot. According to an official, it will be an investment worth crores.