Cricket ball bombs found - Waterproof explosive haul

Some of the bombs found at Kanditola. Picture by Surajit Roy

TT, Malda, Oct. 17: Fifteen water-resistant crude bombs in the shape of plastic cricket balls were discovered in a bamboo grove at Kanditola in Kaliachak last night.

The bombs were today defused by the CID after its samples had been collected for forensic examination.

Police said the bombs had been found inside a plastic drum in the bamboo grove by the residents of Kanditola, 30km from here. The bombs were detonated in an empty field this morning.

Police sources have said the plastic cricket ball bombs had been spotted in Malda district for the first time.

“We have come across crude bombs bound with jute strings or packed in containers of chewing tobacco, both of which are not water resistant. The bombs we found last night were waterproof. We have also found syringes and some white and red powder from the spot where the bombs were recovered. The powders have been collected and will be sent for forensic examination,” the CID officer said.

He added explosive chemicals were injected inside the hollow balls with the help of syringes.

Malda police superintendent, Prasun Banerjee, said 15 “fresh” bombs had been recovered by the Kaliachak police around 10pm yesterday.

“We are looking for those who are behind the manufacturing of the bombs. No arrests have been made as yet,” he said.

Banerjee said the police were trying to determine whether the discovery of the bombs in Kaliachak last night was linked to the blasts at Narendrapur on October 5 and at a Trinamul leader’s house on October 12.