2 batteries exploded leading to driver's death

Kolkata: Preliminary investigation conducted by the police revealed that two batteries installed in the e-rickshaw exploded resulting in the death of a driver in an incident at Englishbazar town in Malda on Wednesday evening.

Alok Rajoria, Superintendent of Police (SP), Malda, who had been to the spot following the incident on Wednesday, said: "A forensic team will visit and collect sample from the site of the blast. The cause of the explosion could be ascertained after the examination of the samples." The incident is the first-of-its-kind since e-rickshaws were introduced in different parts of the state four years ago.

On Wednesday evening when Md Iliyas of Sujapur in Kaliachak was driving the e-rickshaw loaded with wooden planks and objects made out of fiber, there was a sudden explosion when he reached near Bagbari.

Due to the blast, his limbs were blown off and few glass panes of the houses around the spot were also shattered.

As soon as the blast took place, locals panicked and started running here and there suspecting a bomb blast. After few minutes, the police arrived at the spot. Later, Rajoria also came to the spot.

Sources informed that they saw a white-coloured chemical at the spot. The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) also investigated the scene.

On Wednesday, Rajoria said after preliminary investigation, it is suspected that the explosion took place in the two batteries after they got heated. He also informed that police found no history of Iliyas having connection with any crime in their records.

According to sources, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has got in touch with the police on Wednesday to seek information about the explosion but no official statement was given by the police in this regard.