8 Year Boy Killed in Bengal Blast

Kolkata: An eight-year-old boy was killed and at least nine persons were injured when a crude bomb exploded in Dumdum in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on Tuesday, police said. Deceased boy Bibhash Gosh’s mother was among those injured who were admitted to state-run SSKM Hospital. The blast around 9 a.m. outside a shop in Nagerbazar area ripped through nearby shops, shattered windowpanes of houses and damaged a walkway, eyewitnesses said. Ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party blamed each other for the blast.

“A large explosion took place outside the shop in Nagerbazar area. According to our probe so far, low-intensity socket bombs were used,” Barrackpore Police Commissioner Rajesh Kumar Singh said.

“More explosives were used to magnify the effects of the low-intensity crude bombs — parts of which ricocheted off the concrete floor and hit a terrace, causing the blast impact to double.

“Eight-year-old Bibhash Gosh was among the injured. He succumbed to injuries at the hospital,” he said. (IANS)