Four boys at a village near the India-Bangladesh border in North Dinajpur district were injured after a stun grenade which they found in a field exploded on Friday morning.

All of them suffered burn injuries and have been admitted to North Bengal Medical College & Hospital in Siliguri. Police officers have visited the spot and have found that the grenade was made in a factory of the Border Security Force (BSF).

Sources said at around 10am, four boys of Goalgach village located under Chopra block of the district took some goats to a field for grazing.

There, they found a canister–shaped item and as they picked it up, it exploded.

Locals heard the large sound and some also witnessed a sudden intense spark and rushed to the spot.

They found the boys lying on the ground with burn marks in their faces and limbs. All four were taken to a local health centre and soon referred to NBMCH.

A team from Daspara police outpost (under Chopra police station) reached the spot.

Also, Kartick Chandra Mondal, the additional SP of Islampur police district, reached there.

Policemen examined the empty canister and found that it was a stun grenade. “It was made in a factory of BSF in Tekanpur of MP. There is a BSF camp around 300 metres from the ground where the grenade exploded. We have learnt that the BSF has also initiated a probe,” said a police officer.

Stun grenades, which explode with a huge sound and blinding light to disorient people temporarily, are being used by BSF and a number of security agencies.

A few days back, another minor boy – a Bangladeshi resident – had got injured when the BSF had lobbed a grenade at the Indo-Bangla border in Cooch Behar district while he was illegally crossing it with some others. He is under treatment at Dinhata sub-divisional hospital.

Later in the day, Sachin Makkar, the SP of Islampur police district, visited the spot. The police have asked locals to refrain from straying near the BSF camp and adjoining areas to avoid any further accident.

“We are trying to find out whether the grenade has come from the local camp of BSF. Our officers have spoken to their personnel and they have said that in January this year, they had used stun grenades at the border for the last time. It might happen that earlier a grenade was lobbed but it didn’t explode,” said Makkar.