New Delhi: Four children were injured as crude bombs went off in the Malda district of West Bengal on Sunday, the police said. According to a report by news agency PTI, the incident took place because the children started playing with the crude bombs thinking them to be balls. It happened in Gopalganj in the Kaliachk police station area, the police added.
“Thinking them to be balls, they picked up the crude bombs and started playing,” police said.
When the children were playing, the bombs exploded, injuring the four children. Two of the children are critical and undergoing treatment at the Malda Medical College and Hospital. The police also told PTI that the other two boys are undergoing treatment at a local health center.
West Bengal | Four children were injured in an explosion in the Kaliachak area of Malda.
2 children have been discharged & 2 are still admitted to the hospital. Police team & bomb squad reached the spot. Probe on to find out the exact cause of incident: SP Malda, Amitava Maiti pic.twitter.com/HBcXSUgncA
— ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2022
The police are investigating to find out who kept the bombs underneath a litchi tree beside the local mosque which led to the incident.
Superintendent of Police Amitava Maiti said police have cordoned off the area and the rest of the bombs will be detonated on Monday.
On March 27, the police found as many as 30 crude bombs kept in a plastic bag in a football ground in the Birbhum district. Though none of the bombs went off as they were successfully detonated by the security forces. However, the West Bengal police called in Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate the case.
West Bengal has been in the headlines for violence lately, especially after the Birbhum incident in which eight people were charred to death following the death of the killing of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Bhadu Sheikh.
