Bombs explode in closed club room in Kolkata, no report of any injury

Kolkata, Mar 7 (PTI) Bombs exploded in a closed club room at Paikpara in the northern part of the city on Saturday morning, a police officer said.

There was no report of any injury or casualty in the incident, the officer said.

A senior police officer, quoting eyewitnesses, said that two to three crude bombs kept inside the closed club room went off in the area at around 6:11 am, and the tin roof of the abandoned club room fell on the fifth-floor roof of the adjacent building.

"Five-six crude bombs were found inside the premises and defused by the bomb disposal squad. Further investigations are on to find out who had kept the bombs and for what reason," the officer said.

The loud sound caused panic in the densely populated locality on early Saturday morning as people came out of their houses and assembled near the blast site, which was later cordoned off by the police.

"We suspect the bombs could have been put inside the room, not frequented by people for years, by miscreants to foment disturbances in the area," Rangan Dev, a local, said.

BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said with assembly polls approaching, the bombs could have been kept by miscreants allegedly sheltered by TMC in the area as "the party is aware about the fast eroding support base in West Bengal." "TMC wants to create fear and panic among the people to win votes by terrorising voters as it can't win by fair polling," Bhattacharya said.

TMC spokesperson Trinankur Bhattacharya said, "The BJP wants to put the blame on the TMC for an isolated incident which the police is investigating. The law and order situation in West Bengal is much better than in BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh." PTI SUS RG