Two persons, including a Trinamul worker, were killed in a bomb blast at Bhanganmari village in East Midnapore’s Janka, less than a kilometre away from Khejuri police station, late on Monday.

Official sources remained unclear whether it was a planned or an accidental detonation.

Anup Das, 32, was killed on the spot, while the other victim’s remains stayed unidentified as of Tuesday afternoon. Two other Trinamul workers were seriously injured and admitted to critical care at the Tamluk District Hospital soon after the incident.

“A powerful explosion took place in West Bhanganmari on Monday night while a bomb was planted. Two persons died on the spot,” said Khejuri BJP MLA Shantanu Pramanik, adding the area of the blast had been cordoned off since Monday night.

“These are fallouts of the Trinamul’s criminal... The blast took place near the police station. Why has no legal action been taken?” he added.

Local BJP workers said they had tried to visit the spot on Tuesday but were stopped by police.

Asked, Trinamul leader Mahmud Hossain said: “I have heard of the bomb blast in Khejuri and am calling for a fair investigation. Police will decide if this was a plant or if the blast was an accident.”

3 kids killed

Three children were killed when a cattle-laden truck ran over them when they were playing on the roadside at West Midnapore’s Kharagpur on Tuesday morning.

The accident took place in ward 22 near Golbazar. The deceased were identified as Sheikh Salman, 10, Sheikh Nazrul, 9, and Sonia Khatun, 13, all of whom instantly died.

The fourth victim, Mohammed Farid, 11, was rushed to a Calcutta hospital and remains critical. The incident precipitated a picket and roadblock in the area for a few hours.

Fall to death

Chandan Prachand, 58, from West Midnapore’s Chandrakona fell off a running local train between Dankuni and Belanagar railway station of Hooghly on Tuesday morning and died at a Calcutta hospital.

Prachand, a resident of Chandrakona, came to Dankuni to meet the would-be in-laws of his daughter and was returning home on Tuesday. The train was so crowded that he was hanging from the door when the mishap occurred.