Three youths were killed when bombs exploded at a house in Khayertala village in Murshidabad district’s Sagarpara late on Sunday.

Police said Sakirul Sarkar, 25, Mamun Molla, 35, and Mostakin Sheikh, 30, who were killed, were residents of Khayertala village.

“The bodies of the victims were torn into pieces and thrown away at a distance by the impact of the explosion,” a police officer of Sagarpara police station said.

The officer added that two of the deceased, Mostakin and Mamun, had been earlier arrested under the narcotics Act and had been out on bail.

The police officer went on to add that preliminary investigations indicated that the three had been killed when a few bombs exploded at the house in Khayertala village.

“The blast could have taken place either while the persons were making bombs or carrying explosives. However, the facts will emerge only after a thorough investigation,” the police officer said.

However, the incident got a twist when the family members of those killed claimed that the three had been murdered in a bomb attack.

At the same time, the deceased’s kin have not yet lodged a complaint with the police or blamed any group or individual for the alleged bomb attack.

An inconsolable Mehenur Bibi, Sakirul’s mother, said: “It was late on Sunday night and my son was sitting with two others when goons attacked them with bombs, leading to their deaths.”

Mehenur’s neighbour Samad Sheikh said they had all been sleeping and woke up to the loud noise.

“After dinner, my family members and I went to bed and fell asleep. Around 11.30pm, we all woke up to the sound of an explosion. The explosion rattled our house in the way it happens during an earthquake. We ran outside and found a portion of our neighbour’s house had been damaged in the blast,” he said, adding that they then came to know of the deaths of the trio.

Reacting to the bomb-attack allegation of the mother of one of the victims, Domkal subdivisional police officer (SDPO) Subham Bajaj said that the police were yet to receive any complaint in this regard.

“Three persons have been killed in a bomb blast in Khayertala village. The police have started a suo motu probe as no complaint has been lodged by the victims’ families,”
Bajaj said.

“As we are probing the explosion, I am not in a position to say at the moment whether it was a blast or a case of a bomb attack directed at the victims. Once the probe is complete, we will take action based on the outcome of the investigation,” the SDPO added.