KOLKATA: A powerful explosion in Khoyertala village, Sagarpara gram panchayat, on Sunday night claimed the lives of three individuals and injured several others, according to police reports.
The blast took place at the residence of Mamon Mollah, where the group was reportedly engaged in producing crude bombs.
The three dead victims have been identified as Sakirul Sarkar, 32; Mamon Mollah, 30; and Mustakin Shiekh, 28. Police said that the impact of the blast was so powerful that it even damaged the roof of Mollah's house.
The locals took Mollah and Sarkar to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, but they both died on the way. The others who got injured were said to have escaped from the spot.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the victims had previous connections with phensedyl smuggling, a banned substance. The police are now trying to ascertain whether there is a nexus between the crude bomb-making operation and illegal smuggling activities in the region.
As a result of the blast, authorities immediately dispatched heavy police to the scene while a bomb squad examined it in detail. The bomb explosion has highlighted an ongoing illegal bomb-making and smuggling process in Murshidabad, where police continue investigating the case.
The tragedy has underlined the growing concerns over illegal activities in West Bengal as the authorities are trying to dig out the entire scale of these operations and avoid similar incidents in the future.
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