Five-year-old dies, another minor hurt in bomb explosion

KOLKATA: A five-year-old boy died and a seven-year-old is still battling for his life after a bomb exploded while the minor duo mistook it for a ball at Rasikpur in East Burdwan on Monday morning.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee instructed the District Magistrate (DM) and Superintendent of Police (SP) to take action and arrange for necessary treatment of the injured child.

Banerjee said: "As soon as, I came to know about the incident, instruction was given to take good care of the injured."

According to sources, on Monday morning, the minor duo identified as Sheikh Afroz (5) and Sheikh Ibrahim were playing adjacent to their homes.

Around 11:15 am, they spotted an earthen pot inside which two bombs were kept by some unknown person.

Seeing the bombs Afroz and Ibrahim mistook those for balls and one of them took a bomb in his hand.

While playing with it, the bomb fell on the ground and exploded.Another bomb which was inside the earthen pot also exploded. Hearing the sounds, locals came out of their houses and found the children lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Immediately they were rushed to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, where Afroz succumbed to his injuries.

Ibrahim is still undergoing treatment there. Later in the afternoon, police along with bomb squad, anti-sabotage team and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials of East Burdwan went to the spot and inquired about the incident. However, police are trying to find out what sort of explosive was there. Senior officers of East Burdwan police including the SP, Bhaskar Mukherjee, also rushed to the spot.Meanwhile the incident came to the notice of the Election Commission of India and a report has been sought from the DM. "We have already received the preliminary report where it has been stated that the incident took place as the children mistook bombs as balls. We are still awaiting the detailed report," said Sanjay Basu, Additional CEO.