Nine-year-old girl killed in crude bomb blast in West Bengal

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A nine-year-old girl died in a crude bomb explosion in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, police said on Thursday.

The blast occurred when she picked up the bomb out of curiosity at her maternal uncle's house in Bakchora village in Minakhan area on Wednesday evening, a senior police officer said.

Minakhan Sub-division Police Officer (SDPO) Aminul Islam said that the class 2 student hails from Basanti area of South 24 Parganas district and had come to visit her maternal uncle's house two days before the incident.

The crude bomb was kept beside a carom board on the first floor of the house of the deceased's maternal uncle, who works as a construction worker and also runs a grocery store, he said.

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The explosion took place as the girl picked up the crude bomb out of curiosity. She was taken to Minakhan Rural Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries, the officer said.

The occupants fled the house after the incident, and the maternal uncle was arrested from a nearby area on Thursday morning and will be produced before a court in Basirhat, where police will seek his custody, Islam said.

A forensic team visited the spot and collected samples, but no other bomb or bomb-making materials were found there, he said.

A police picket has been set up near the house, and further investigation is underway, the officer added.

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