10 escape unhurt in Maoist blast

At least 10 people travelling in a vehicle in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district had a narrow escape when a landmine suspected to have been triggered by Maoists exploded on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

At least 10 people travelling in a vehicle in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district had a narrow escape when a landmine suspected to have been triggered by Maoists exploded on Wednesday afternoon, police said. Three women have have been detained for questioning.

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“A landmine exploded near Balichua in between Belpahari and Kokraghor while a passenger vehicle was passing by,” said Additional Superintendent of Police (operations) Mukesh Kumar.

“The Maosists might have triggered the landmine after mistakenly taking the public vehicle to be the one carrying security personnel,” Kumar told IANS over phone.

Three women, who were found cutting wood in a nearby forest, were detained for interrogation.

He said a 60-70 feet wire has been recovered from the spot which suggests that the landmine was triggered from a very close range. The impact of the blast was huge but luckily no loss of life or damage of property was reported.

The spot is very close to the camp of the 165 Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force at Khatodhogra.