A 12-year old boy died on Saturday after a bomb exploded in Gangnahar, about 50 metres from DAV (PG) College, in Roorkee.
Significantly, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) was holding a meeting to mark the anniversary of Babri mosque demolition near the place where the blast occurred.
The bomb exploded near a petrol pump, Nehru Nagar, when, on his way back home from school in the company of his two friends, the boy was playing with the object he picked up on his way, taking it for a ball. The deceased was identified as Tushar Dhiman, resident of Roorkee, who was studying in Class IV.
State Director-General of Police BS Sidhu said that the blast had taken place at a garbage dump, some 50 metres away from DAV College.
Sangeet Som, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader and MlA from Uttar Pradesh, and a large number of VHP activists were present at the programme when the incident happened, it is learnt.
The VHP was observing ‘Shaurya Diwas’ to commemorate the Babri Masjid demolition that had happened in 1992. Soon after the blast, the VHP leaders were asked to wind up the meeting.
Additional Director -General of Police (law and order) Ram Singh Meena and Garhwal Range DIG Sanjay Gunjyal rushed to the blast site to supervise the search operation and investigation that followed.
Haridwar SSP Sweety Aggarwal along with police officers reached the site too and the entire area was cordoned off. Police started investigation to ascertain the cause behind the explosion.
The DGP said that a defused bomb that might have inadvertently reached the civilian area from the cantonment might have triggered the explosion.
Dhiman saw the round object and started playing with it while his companions moved ahead. Hit on the head by the splinters following the explosion, he died on the spot.
The family members rushed to the site after being informed about the incident. The bomb squad, dog squad and forensic teams were deployed to collect scientific evidences from the site.
Police recovered the body and sent it for post-mortem examination. Following the explosion, panic broke out with the people present running helter skelter for safety, taking it for a militant-triggered explosion. Police sealed off the area immediately.