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2 killed, 3 injured while making bombs in Bengal village; 5 dead in 48 hours
The incident happened within 48 hours of a similar one reported from the neighbouring Malda district
Two men died and three of their associates were injured in an explosion on Monday morning while they were making crude bombs at Kumripur village in the Shaktipur area of Bengal’s Murshidabad district, police said.
The deceased were identified as Munai Sheikh (35) and Yousuf Sheikh (50). Munai Sheikh was a resident of Kataikona village, while Yousuf lived in Santoshpur village. During investigation, the police found that they had gone to Kumripur along with some others to make crude bombs.
The incident happened within 48 hours of a similar one reported from the neighbouring Malda district.
There men died when some crude bombs that they were making accidentally exploded in the early hours of Sunday in the Manikchak area of Malda, police said. The explosion took place near a mango farm at Gopalpur village. Two of the deceased were identified as Safikul Islam (30) and Farjun Sheikh (43). Their families told the police that they were migrant labourers and had come home during Eid.
In another incident that took place on July 5 in Murshidabad, one man died and three were injured while making bombs in the Bagarpur-Ramna area of Domkal municipality. The deceased was identified as Sirajul Sheikh, 27, a local resident.
Monday’s incident created panic among residents of Kumripur. Superintendent of police K S Rajkumar said: “Preliminary investigation suggests that there was a dispute between two groups of villagers over ownership of land. One of these groups was making bombs. We have started a probe.”
A similar land dispute was found to be the reason behind hoarding of bombs at Domkal, police officials said after the July 5 incident.
Some residents of Kumripur claimed that several associates of Munai Sheikh were injured in Monday’s explosion and they were undergoing treatment at secret hideouts.
“Yousuf Sheikh died in one of these hideouts. His associates dumped the body on an agricultural land and fled,” a Kumripur resident said on condition of anonymity.
Humayun Kabir, a local resident and Trinamool Congress legislator from the Bharatpur constituency, said: “I got to know that there was a land-related dispute between some villagers. One of these groups hired criminals to make bombs.”
