In West Bengal’s Kaliganj, a bomb explosion resulted in the death of 13-year-old Tammana Khatun on Monday, shortly after the assembly byelection results were announced. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condemned the incident and called for swift action against those responsible. One suspect, Akhtar Sheikh, has been arrested.
A girl was killed in a bomb explosion in Kaliganj in Naida district of West Bengal on Monday afternoon, prompting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to order police to take strict action against the culprits. The incident occurred after the byelection results of the Kaliganj assembly seat was declared.
One person identified as Akhtar Sheikh was arrested for his alleged involvement in the death of the girl in bomb explosion, an officer said.
Police, who later claimed that the girl was 13-year-old Tammana Khatun, alleged that the girl was hit by splinters of the bomb.
“The bombing took place between two local groups over a rivalry. There was a similar incident in 2023 and one of our officers was injured in that. The girl died probably after she was hit by splinters of bombs,” a senior police officer said.
The IPS officer said that forensic examination would confirm the type of bomb that exploded, leading to the death of the girl at Barochandgar under Kaliganj police station limits.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said police will take strict legal action against the culprits.
“I am shocked and deeply saddened at the death of a young girl in an explosion at Barochandgar. My prayers and thoughts are with the family in their hour of grief,” Banerjee posted on X.
“Police shall take strong and decisive legal action against the culprits at the earliest,” she added.
“The girl’s body has been sent for post-mortem. We are probing into the cause of the explosion,” the police officer said.
Locals claimed that the girl along with her mother was going to a nearby pond to take a bath when she was hit by a bomb hurled by some people who took out a rally to celebrate the TMC’s win in the bypoll.
Trinamool Congress candidate Alifa Ahmed on Monday won the bypolls to the Kaliganj Assembly seat by a landslide margin of 50,049 votes over her nearest BJP rival Ashish Ghosh, bettering the 2021 winning margin of her father Nasiruddin Ahmed, whose demise in February this year necessitated the elections to the seat in West Bengal’s Nadia district.
