West Bengal Panchayat Polls: Two Children Injured In Crude Bomb Blast In Bhangor

Two children were injured in a blast in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Saturday which happened when they picked up a crude bomb from the roadside mistaking it to be a ball, officials said.

The incident happened in Bhangor amid the polling for panchayat elections in the state, they said.

"The two children mistook the crude bomb for a ball, and as one of them touched it, it went off. Security forces were sent to the area to find if any more bombs were there," an official said.

The two children, aged between 8 and 10, were admitted to a hospital, he said. Locals protested in the area, alleging that the crude bombs were indiscriminately used overnight to intimidate voters and no police could be seen.

State Election Commission (SEC) secretary Nilanjan Sandilya told PTI, "We have asked for details of the incident."

The area, adjoining Kolkata, witnessed several incidents of violence in run-up to the polling day.

Two persons were killed during the filing of nomination on June 15.