All he wanted was a toy gun.
Little Bibhas Ghosh was very excited. His 8th birthday was just down the corner and his father Janmejoy Ghosh had promised him what he had always wanted – a toy gun.
Janmejoy worked at a sweetshop, his wife Sita as a domestic worker, but the couple with limited means were figuring how to get their son the toy of his dreams.
Sadly, it all ended thanks to a cruel twist of fate.
As per use, he was accompanying his mother who worked as a domestic helper in nearby houses. With the owners out, Sita decided to take her son to the sweetmeat shop - Basanti sweets - where his father worked to get some mishti when a high-intensity crude bomb hit the market injuring 10 including his mother and taking his life.
The war of words has already started between BJP and TMC over the blast, but that will be of little comfort to the Ghoshs.
As per the initial investigation, ammonium nitrate was used in the low-intensity blast outside a fruit shop on the ground floor of the building in the congested Kazipara area under the jurisdiction of Dum Dum police station around 9 am, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Barrackpore Commissionerate, Ananda Roy said.
"A child, who was severely injured in the blast, died in hospital. A total of nine persons are injured," he said.
A police officer said, "It was a socket bomb explosion. Forensic team and the bomb squad of CID are examining the spot. We have started further investigation." A socket bomb is an improvised explosive device.
"Initially, we thought it was a gas cylinder blast. But it is not so. We have found a few iron nails but there is no smell of gunpowder," another senior police officer said.
Panchu Roy, whose office is at the building, claimed that he was the target of the blast.
Stopping short of naming any political party, he said the forces, which are currently attacking the ruling TMC all over Bengal, were behind the attack.
"It was a pre-planned blast... They had planned to kill me and other TMC workers, as it would create panic and help them gain foothold in the area," Panchu Roy told PTI.
Asked whether the explosion was a result of infighting within the TMC, he said there was no such issue in south Bengal.
TMC North 24 Parganas district president and state minister Jyotipriyo Mullick, who visited the spot, held the BJP responsible for the blast and said it was aimed to harm Panchu Roy and other party members.
"The blast is an example of deep conspiracy to kill Panchu Roy. This was a very well-planned one. It was a ploy to kill Panchu Roy. They (the BJP) is trying to create unnecessary problems among the people throughout the state.
"The BJP is trying to play divisive politics. They are shouting against the incident in Islampur but trying to kill Roy here," Mullick said.
Two students died in a clash with the police at Islampur in North Dinajpur district on September 20 over appointment of Urdu and Sanskrit teachers at Daribhita High School.
The state government has ordered CID inquiry into the incident. BJP had called a state-wide shutdown over the incident on September 26.
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh rubbished Mullick's allegations and said it has become a "mania" for the TMC to blame the saffron party for every incident that happens in the state.
He alleged that the TMC party offices have become a "storehouse of bombs" and hence in every blast the name of the ruling party surfaces.
Ghosh questioned the security measures in the city as well as in the state.
With inputs from Arshad Ali and PTI
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Bibhas Ghosh")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}