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41 Pipe Bombs Recovered from India's West Bengal Ahead of Third-Phase in State Polls

Earlier this week, police in the state of West Bengal recovered around 56 pipe bombs from a hideout in the middle of a fish farm in the village of Narendrapur. State assembly polls are currently being held for 294 seats. The elections began on 27 March, and the vote counting is scheduled for 2 May.
Sputnik

Election authorities in the Indian state of West Bengal have seized 41 pipe bombs (crude bombs) from the state's South 24 Parganas District. The incident occurred late Friday night. 

The confiscation of pipe bombs comes as two of the eight phases of assembly elections in West Bengal have been conducted. The third phase will be held on 6 April.

​According to the state police, the bombs were recovered following a tip-off that explosives were hidden in the Padmapukur area under the Pranganj Gram Panchayat (village body) in the 148th Bhangor Assembly Constituency. 

"A raid was conducted based on the information, and the recovery was made from a bush in the presence of policemen of Baruipur police station", a senior police officer told reporters on Saturday. 

The constituency is set to witness polling on 10 April for the fourth phase. 

At present, no person has been arrested over the incident. 

Federal Home Minister and Senior BJP leader Amit Shah is on a two-day visit to West Bengal. Having addressed an election rally in the same South 24 Paraganas on Friday, he is also scheduled to address a small gathering in the state on Saturday. 

In the ongoing elections, the State Chief Mamata Banerjee-headed Trinamool Congress is facing its main challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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