Kolkata: A seven-year-old child was killed and nine people, including his mother, were injured in a low-intensity explosion in front of a multi-storey building at Nagerbazar in Kolkata's northern suburbs on Tuesday, police said.
As per the initial investigation, ammonium nitrate was used in the low-intensity blast outside a fruit shop on the ground floor of the building in the congested Kazipara area under the jurisdiction of Dum Dum police station around 9 am, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Barrackpore Commissionerate, Ananda Roy said.
"A child, who was severely injured in the blast, died in hospital. A total of nine persons are injured," he said.
A police officer said, "It was a socket bomb explosion. A forensic team and the bomb squad of CID are examining the spot. We have started further investigation." A socket bomb is an improvised explosive device.
"Initially, we thought it was a gas cylinder blast. But it is not so. We have found a few iron nails, but there is no smell of gunpowder," another senior police officer said.
Panchu Roy, whose office is at the building, claimed that he was the target of the blast.
Stopping short of naming any political party, he said the forces, which are currently attacking the ruling TMC all over Bengal, were behind the attack.
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh rubbished Mullick's allegations and said it had become a "mania" for the TMC to blame the saffron party for every incident that happens in the state.