Siliguri: Police seized 18 books on Taleban and terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden from a book fair in this North Bengal commercial town after being informed by the organisers.

The books in Bengali, titled 'Samrajyabader kabarsthan Afganisthane markin hana, Taleban o Laden' (American attack at Afganistan, graveyard of imperialism: Taleban and Laden), contained a number of articles edited by one Abu Rida, police sources said.

Additional Superintendent of Police, Rajeev Mishra said an inquiry has begun after seizure of the books from the stall of 'Islamic Book Centre'. There was no report of any arrest.

Stating it was impossible to scrutinise all the thousand-odd books in 60 stalls, the organisers of the state-sponsored 20th Darjeeling district Grantha (book) Mela claimed that the moment the controversial title was noticed in the stall, it was asked to stop sale and the police were informed.

The Publishers’ and Book sellers' Guild had selected the 'Islamic Book Centre' for participating in the fair, an organising committee spokesman said. The matter was reported to the guild for appropriate action.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state secretariat member, Dr Geeta Chatterjee demanded arrest of the stall owner. She also called for police inquiry into the matter in national interest.

PTI