On Thursday, November 17, a 9-year-old girl died in a crude bomb explosion in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district. The blast reportedly occurred in her maternal uncle’s house in Bakchora village in the Minakhan area on Wednesday evening, a police officer privy to the case told the media. The uncle, Abdul Hossain, who the locals allege is a Trinamool Congress cadre, has been arrested.
Minakhan Sub-division Police Officer (SDPO) Aminul Islam said that the deceased has been identified as Sohana Khatun alias Jhuma, a class 3 student who hails from the Basanti area of South 24 Parganas district. Her friends Rahima Parveen and Anisha Khatoon, who were playing with her, were injured in the blast.
According to the police, the crude bomb was kept on the loft beside a carrom board in Jhuma’s maternal uncle Abdul Hossain’s house, which the 9-year-old deceased came to visit two days before the incident. When the girl noticed a ball-like object on the loft, out of curiosity, she attempted to bring it down, but the crude bomb fell on the ground and exploded.
“The girl thought that coconuts were kept in the loft of the house. She went to pick it up but it fell on the ground and exploded.” a police officer said.
She was rushed to Minakhan Rural Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries, the officer said.
After the incident, all the occupants fled the residence, said the police, adding that Hossain was arrested from a nearby area on Thursday morning. The police said that they also recovered 7 crude bombs from Hossain’s house. The police booked Hossain under the relevant sections of the IPC and Explosive Substance Act. He will be produced before a court in Basirhat, where police will seek his custody. Later police arrested Abdul Hossain’s brother Abul Sattar.
Abdul Hossain works as a construction worker and also runs a grocery store, said the police. The locals confirmed that Hossain, who has a past criminal record, is also associated with the ruling Trinamool Congress party, a claim that the party has denied.
“The party has no relation with Abu Hussain Gayen. Let the police find out the truth,” said TMC regional president Azizul Ghazi.
