Another child also suffered serious injuries and lost his hand in the blast.
Another child also suffered serious injuries and lost his hand in the blast.
A war of words broke out between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition parties after the death of a seven-year-old boy in a country-made bomb blast in West Bengal’s Bhatpara on Wednesday.
The boy was trying to lift something near Kakinara and Jagaddal railway track in North 24 Parganas district when the bomb went off. Another child also suffered serious injuries and lost his hand in the blast. The incident took place around 8.30 am in ward number 10 of Bhatpara Municipality.
Bhatpara, dotted with age-old jute mills, has been on the boil since 2019, especially after local MP Arjun Singh shifted from the Trinamool Congress to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Though the MP returned to the Trinamool about five months ago, incidents of violence, murder and country-made bomb attacks continue.
Local BJP MLA Pawan Singh, who is Arjun Singh’s son, blamed the police and said that despite illegal activities being brought before the police, nothing has been done. “There was never such a situation before 2019,” the MLA complained. Arjun Singh attributed it to gambling and said that crude bombs are deposited in the dark by people indulging in such illegal activities.
State BJP President Sukanta Majumdar alleged that West Bengal is becoming a factory of illegal arms and bombs. He said that bombs are being planted in view of the upcoming panchayat elections. Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said outsiders are involved in such acts and the BJP is trying to use such unfortunate incidents against the ruling party.
The Bhatpara incident is not the first in the state where children have been victims of crude bomb blasts in the state. On September 17, country-made bombs were hurled at the roof of a school in Titagarh in the same district. In April this year, five children were injured in a crude bomb blast in the state’s Malda district.