Explosion at Kolkata Police Inspector's house, wife injured

Kolkata: The wife of an inspector of Kolkata Police was severely injured in an explosion inside her apartment at Kestopur under Baguiati police station area.

All the three rooms inside the apartment owned by Debasish Roy have been totally damaged due to the impact of the blast that occurred at around 10 pm on Friday.

The victim, his wife Sathi, who has been admitted to a private hospital on EM Bypass has suffered 90 percent burn injuries and is in a critical state.

Roy was watching television in his drawing room with his brother-in-law and Sathi had gone to the kitchen when the incident took place.

"I have been working with the Kolkata Police for several years now. But I have never heard such a loud noise of an explosion.

"As I heard the noise coming from the kitchen, I rushed inside to find my wife lying there with severe burn injuries and all furniture including the doors and windows badly damaged due to its impact," Debasish, who lives on the ground floor of Trimurti Apartment in Hanapara area, said.

Officers investigating the case were completely in the dark when they initially visited the residence as no smell of any inflammable article could be detected.

They sought help from forensic experts to throw light on the reason for the explosion.

Forensic experts who visited the spot were able to ascertain the probable cause that resulted in the incident after examining the kitchen and the rooms inside the apartment.

"Prima facie, it seems that there was a leakage inside the kitchen that was confined. As soon as there was ignition of the gas oven, it exploded resulting in the doors and windows of the house being damaged. The air conditioner was on at that time and the doors and windows were closed," said Wasim Raja, senior scientist at State Forensic Science Laboratory.