Bullet explosion kills Sikkim man

SNS, Gangtok, May 7: A 50-year-old man died on Tuesday night when the live bullet he had been trying to break open exploded in East Sikkim.

According to Army officials, Pradhan Bahadur Rai, a daily wage earner, was trying to break open the bullet with a hammer which he had found near an Army firing range in Kupup, around 50 km away from Gangtok, and close to the Nathula border. This is also considered a restricted area.

Mr Rai died on the spot, they said.

“The bullet that the victim found had probably been miss-fired by the jawans, while training at the firing range,” an Army official said. “It appears that he was trying to extract the metal case of the bullet when it exploded and killed him,” Superintendent of Police, Manoj Tewari, said.

“We are, however, looking into how the bullet reached the man, while the matter has been forwarded to the Rongli SDPO, Prasad Dewan, for further investigations,” Mr Tewari said.

According to Army sources, Mr Rai’s wife Yangmoo was also at their house when the incident occurred. However, she was not hurt in the explosion.

Mr Rai had been temporarily living near the GREF camp in Kupup, while his other family members live in Chandmari.

The Kupup police station has registered a case of unnatural death over the incident. A post-mortem was conducted at the STNM hospital in Gangtok.