One person was injured when a crude bomb went off on the premises of a convent school in the city’s northern fringes here on Saturday morning. No arrests have been made in relation to the incident.
This comes against the backdrop of frequent reports of bomb blasts in West Bengal and in the city since the accidental blast at Khagragarh in Bardhaman district in October 2014. While another blast at a cracker factory at Pingla in Paschim Medinipur district killed 11 persons, one man was injured at a low intensity blast at a house in the city’s Tiljala area in May this year.
Johnny Halder (21) sustained minor injuries when he mistook the crude bomb to be a cricket ball and tried to catch it when his friend threw at him. Locals said a cricket tournament was to take place on the school premises later in the morning in which Mr. Halder was participating. School was closed on Saturday.
“Johnny was playing at the school ground along with some other local boys when the incident took place. Had it been a working day at school, a major accident could have happened as there would have been school children at the play ground. The impact of the blast was quite less but there was a loud sound,” one of the eye witnesses Amal Ray said and added that the impact of the blast was lessened as the bomb fell on a puddle.
Downplaying the incident, Barrackpore Police Commissionerate, Commissioner of Police Niraj Kumar Singh said it was not a bomb blast.
“It was not a bomb blast but a low intensity minor explosion. While a crude bomb would have caused serious injuries, Mr. Halder received only minor injuries and has already been discharged from the hospital. A case has been registered,” Mr. Singh said.
