Kolkata: An eight-year-old boy was killed and nine others injured in a blast at Kajipara near Nagerbazar area on Tuesday morning. Among the injured, four persons are said to be critical.
The incident took place at a stone's throw distance from the office of the Councillor of Ward number 25 and chairman of South Dum Dum Municipality Panchu Roy. Police claimed that it was a socket bomb explosion.
Sources informed on Tuesday that around 9 am, locals of Kabi Nabin Sen Road heard a loud noise and initially, they thought that some gas cylinder might have exploded. Later a few of them found these 10 people lying in a pool of blood. The shutter of the shop, in front of which the blast happened, was broken into pieces. Another shutter of a shop in the opposite direction was damaged as well. Window glass panes of two four-storeyed buildings were completely shattered due to the intensity of the blast.
All the victims had serious burn injuries and among them was an eight-year-old boy, identified as Bibhash Ghosh, who had injury in both his legs and private parts. He was given primary treatment there and later transferred to a hospital meant for children at Park Circus. But as his health condition deteriorated, he was referred to SSKM Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Another woman, identified as Sangeeta Prasad (32), is also seriously injured. Due to the blast, her abdomen got severely damaged.
Roy arrived at the spot just after the blast and said it might have been a conspiracy of the BJP to kill him. Apart from Roy, state Food and Supplies minister Jyotipriya Mallick also slapped the same allegation against the BJP. He is also the district president of the North 24-Parganas.
"This was a well-planned conspiracy. Maybe, I was also the target. But I am sure that Trinamool workers were also the target," said Roy.
The Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) of the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) also visited the spot along with the experts from the State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL). Barrackpore Police Commissioner Rajesh Kumar Singh informed that several splinters were recovered from the area. Sources informed that considering the intensity of the blast, the CID suspect that the bomb might be an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). But it has not been officially confirmed yet.