Three kids mistook bombs for mangoes; suffer injuries in explosion

Three young children were wounded, with one critical, following a sudden bomb explosion on Tuesday morning in Malda district. The horrifying mishap occurred within a local mango orchard situated in the Bahanna Bigha locality of Kazigram Panchayat, which falls under the jurisdictional limits of the Englishbazar police station. According to local police administrators, the children had ventured into the orchard, located a short distance from their residential dwellings, to gather fallen seasonal fruits when they accidentally stumbled upon the live explosive cache.

Initial accounts from ground zero reveal that the tragedy unfolded when the minor children mistook the round, crudely packed explosive device for a large mango lying on the grass. Driven by innocent curiosity, one of the youngsters attempted to pick up the object and pack it directly into their collection bag, instantly detonating the volatile compound. The sheer force of the sudden blast ripped through the quiet grove, causing intense panic across the entire neighborhood as residents rushed toward the sound of the explosion only to find the young children covered in blood.

The condition of one of the victims, identified by local school authorities as Dwip Roy, remains highly critical. Roy, a seventh-grade student at a nearby regional school, bore the absolute brunt of the primary blast wave and was rushed by frantic locals to the Malda Medical College and Hospital, where specialized trauma surgeons are currently monitoring his condition. The other two children are also undergoing medical treatment for various shrapnel wounds, though hospital spokespersons indicate their conditions are stable compared to their severely injured peer.

Outraged local residents have alleged that the specific mango orchard has long been a notorious hub for anti-social elements, noting that illegal gambling rackets and illicit drinking gatherings take place inside the grove almost every evening. Units from the Englishbazar police station swiftly cordoned off the blast site and recovered a discarded deck of playing cards alongside matchboxes from the immediate perimeter. While a specialized bomb disposal squad has been summoned to sanitize the grove, a comprehensive criminal investigation is underway to track down the anti-social elements responsible for illegally stashing live crude bombs in an area accessible to children.