7 kids among 8 killed

 7 kids among 8 killed in Aurangabad blast
Abdul Qadir, TNN, Nov 21, 2010, 10.01pm IST
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GAYA: In an act of criminal negligence on the part of Aurangabad police, a bomb went off killing eight persons including seven children at Pachokhar village under Deo police station in Kutumba assembly con-stituency in Aurangabad district on Sunday. Three other children were also injured in the blast.

The bomb, detected during the sixth and final round of elections on Saturday, was not defused by local police as they did not have the necessary expertise and the bomb disposal squad could not be rushed to the Maoist-affected area. 
DGP Neelmani said the bomb could not be defused as there was no bomb disposal squad stationed at the village. Moreover, it was not advisable to deploy policemen at Pachokhar village to guard the bomb till the arrival of the bomb disposal squad as the area is a Maoist stronghold. As such, sand bags were placed around the live bomb and a chowkidar was deputed at the place to keep vigil and prevent villagers from going near the highly explosive material. Admitting lapse on the part of local police, the DGP said the chowkidar, too, deserted the place leaving the bomb unattended. In the morning, village children out of sheer curiosity fiddled with the deadly material which led to the explosion.

While seven children died on the spot, one succumbed to injuries at Au-rangabad Sadar Hospital. The victims have been identified as Raja Ram Ravidas, Vikas Kumar, Vidya Kumar, Rituraj, Raju Ram, Rahul Kumar and Golu. The injured are Anjeet Sharma, Vindhyachal and Bhagat. Ac-cording to Aurangabad Civil Surgeon Dr P Bharati, one of the injured has been referred to Anugrah Narain Magadh Medical College Hospital (ANMMCH), Gaya.

ANMMCH Superintendent Dr Sita Ram said the blast victim has received serious leg injury and orthopedic surgeon Dr Vinod Kumar Singh was at-tending on him.

The entire village went into mourning following the incident. Angry men and wailing women mobbed Aurangabad DM Kundan Kumar and SP Vivek Raj Singh demanding action against policemen responsible for the death of innocents.

The state government has announced Rs 1 lakh compensation to the next of kin of the victims. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, while expressing his shock over the incident, has ordered a high level inquiry into the incident. He also directed state chief secretary and DGP to extend all possible help to the families of the victims.

According to DGP Neelmani, DG (homeguards) U S Dutta and develop-ment commissioner K C Saha have rushed to the village to probe the inci-dent. The DGP said action would be taken on the basis of the inquiry re-port.

The DGP said Deo and Dhibra SHOs have been placed under suspension for dereliction of duty, the DGP said.

At Pachokar village, angry villager earlier prevented the administration from sending the bodies for post-mortem. They were adamant on their demand that the police officers responsible for the criminal neglect which led to the loss of innocent lives be punished immediately.

SP Vivek Raj Singh, DM Kundan Kumar and Aurangabad MP Sushil Singh later pacified the villagers and persuaded them to allow the bodies to be taken for post-mortem. 
(read more at: the times of india)=======================================================