A 11-year-old child was killed and two others were injured in a bomb explosion in West Bengal’s Hooghly district on Monday. The incident has sparked a political war of words between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP.
Locket Chatterjee, MP and BJP’s candidate for Hooghly, sought an investigation into the incident by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Ms. Chatterjee, accompanied by hundreds of party workers, blocked GT Road, alleging that Trinamool goons were involved in the blast
She claimed that the blast was an attempt to create panic ahead of Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s campaign in the area later in the day.
According to local residents, the incident occurred when three children went to the local pond at Pandua in Hooghly. The bombs were allegedly kept concealed on the banks of the pond and exploded when the children came upon them.
The child who died on the spot hailed from Bardhaman and was visiting his maternal uncle in Hooghly. The other two children were admitted to a State-run health facility and were said to be in a critical condition. The hand of an injured child was blown off in the incident.
Rachana Banerjee, Trinamool’s Hooghly candidate, expressed grief over the incident and said it had nothing to do with politics.
This was not the first time that children were injured in a crude bomb explosion in the State. Children often picked up the bombs mistaking them for balls. The National Commission of Child Rights has sought reports from the State government on such incidents.
Meanwhile, crude bombs were recovered from Murshidabad, where elections are scheduled for Tuesday.