Three children injured in bomb blast in Bhagalpur

BHAGALPUR: Three children—Nabila (8), Joya (5) and Sabiha (3)—were seriously injured in a bomb blast at Salempur Baluabari village in Chandpur panchayat under the Jagdishpur police station area of Bhagalpur district on Tuesday evening.
The injured children have been admitted to the emergency ward of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital (JLNMCH).
While Nabila and Sabiha are daughters of one Md Shakeel and Nikhat, Joya is Nikhat’s niece.
The incident occurred when several children of the locality were playing in a house which was under construction in their neighbourhoods. While playing, the children jumped on a heap of rice straw piled up inside the house. As soon as the kids jumped on the straw heap, crude bombs concealed under it exploded resulting in severe injuries to all three of them, said police sources. Following the explosion, the Jagdishpur police were informed.
Jagdishpur PS SHO Mahesh Kumar said that an FIR has been registered and investigation is underway. The bomb squad has also been informed and a search operation was on till the time of filing this report.
Name of a dreaded criminal Ghutwa and his gang members operating in the locality have surfaced during police investigation today. Police sources said that an organized gang is probably using the house under construction to hide bombs, arms and ammunition.
Meanwhile, police patrolling has been intensified in the area to ease panic among the villagers.