Six people were killed and seven others injured when a bomb kept in a moving bicycle exploded on Thursday evening a little distance from St Paul’s School near Jalpaiguri town.
The blast is suspected to have been triggered by Kamtapur liberation Organisation (KlO), city Kotwali DSP (Town) P Chakrabarty said.
Most of the victims of the blast were drivers and local workmen who gather around tea stalls at Bajrapara culvert, the blast site, said Saibal Dasgupta, a local.
While not ruling out the involvement of KlO, North Bengal IG Police SK Pujari said, “All angles are being looked into. We do not rule out their hands as some of their activists had been arrested recently.”
Officials said the needle of suspicion aimed at the KlO “because they observe Martyrs’ Day on this day.”Sources added that the blast could be the fallout of the lack of Government response to the repeated warnings of the surrendered KlO militants who had been demanding proper rehabilitation.
Out of the seven injured, three have been sent to North Bengal Medical College Hospital, North Bengal Development Minister Gautam Deb said, adding that he would “visit the spot tomorrow”.