Bihar’s has constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the Bhagalpur blast, which occurred on June 24. On June 25, Bihar’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) reached the spot to investigate the blast site. This blast, which occurred in a house in the Babarganj area in Bhagalpur district, killed a 17-year-old boy and injured three persons.
This blast occurred inside a two-storeyed building owned by Mohammad Abdul Gani at around 05.30 PM. This house was located at Quareshi Tola in the Hussainabad locality, which comes under the limits of Babarganj police station. The owner of the house and the main suspect is absconding.
In this blast, the son of Abdul Gani, Mohammad Taushif Alam (17), was killed. At the same time, the mother of the deceased and the other two siblings are treated for serious injuries at Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College and Hospital (JLNMCH).
While collecting the samples at the blast site, the ATS officials spoke to the residents of Quareshi Tola and also talked to the officials of the local Babarganj police station. The reason for this blast is yet to be confirmed, but as per reports, it’s believed to be a cylinder blast, but it’s also suspected that miscreants used the house to store explosives. But the SIT will look at all the angles before coming to a conclusion.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anand Kumar said, “On receiving information about a fire at the house in Hussainabad Quareshi around 5.45 PM on Dial 112 (emergency services helpline), the fire brigade immediately reached the spot and controlled the fire. On inspection of the spot, it was prima facie found to be a case of explosion. The spot has been sealed”.
Even Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), dog squad and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) also reached the spot. SSP Kumar said, “We are waiting for the FSL report”. He added, “We will act tough against the culprits, if any, responsible for the blasts”.
As per the reports, the explosion led to the collapse of a portion of the house, which led to the break-out of fire, which was later doused by the fire brigade team. The intensity of the blast led the debris from the house to scatter far and wide in the area.
Since June 24, the blast site has been sealed off until the investigations by local police teams and the Anti-Terrorist Squad are concluded, and the locality is kept under constant police surveillance.
Notably, this is not the first time Bhagalpur has witnessed such an explosion. Last year on March 3, a powerful blast in a residential building killed 16 people. The explosion was caused by the material kept for making a ‘desi bomb’. The owner of the building, Mohammad Azad, is still absconding.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG, Bhagalpur Range) Sujit Kumar had told the press that the blast occurred due to country-made bombs, gunpowder and illegal firecrackers in the building.
“Prima facie investigation shows it was firecracker and desi bomb manufacturing unit. Forensic samples are being taken. The police are identifying the bodies,” he had said.
The explosion was so powerful that three adjacent buildings were also damaged, and there were cracks in the nearby buildings. As a precautionary measure, the district administration has ordered the demolition of the damaged buildings.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to investigate the case. The SIT arrested two brothers of Azad, Mohammad Solzer and Mohammad Shahzad.
The police suspect Azad was aware of the storage of large gunpowder in the house. The initial investigation revealed that an illegal firecracker unit was also running on the same premises.
The building where the explosion occurred is barely 100 metres from the police station. The Station House Officer (SHO) of the local Tatarpur police station, Sanjay Kumar Sudhanu, has been suspended for dereliction of duty.
