Two policemen killed while defusing bomb in Jharkhand’s Giridih

An assistant sub-inspector and a constable of Jharkhand police were killed when a bomb they were defusing exploded accidentally on Monday at Saria police station in Giridih district.

The police station, more than 200km from Ranchi, is located in the Maoist hotbed.

The bomb was found during an anti-insurgency operation and a bomb disposal squad was called from Hazaribag to defuse it.

But it went off when the men were working on it, apparently at the malkhana or armoury of the police station.

The explosion killed assistant sub-inspector Ashfak Quarashi of the bomb disposal squad and Mahendra Turi, a constable assisting the team. Both died instantly while three more men were injured.

Eyewitnesses said the cabin of the police station in-charge, located behind the armoury, was damaged. The disaster put to question the authorities’ decision to defuse bomb inside the police station.

“Bomb experts are investigating to find the reason behind the blast. The entire area has been sanitised,” said Giridih police superintendent AV Variyar.

The injured are Satyendra Sharma, Binod Upadhyay and Porai Oroan. They are being treated at Meena general hospital in Dumri.

Senior officers, including deputy inspector general of police Bhimsen Tuti, rushed to Saria after the explosion. The police station was sealed for outsiders.

Bagodar MLA Nagendar Mahto demanded stern action against those responsible for allowing a bomb to be defused in the police station.

“I demand adequate compensation and government job for relatives of those who died in the blast,” he told reporters.

This is the second accident in Jharkhand since 2014 when policemen tried to defuse live bombs captured from Maoists. A landmine went off in March that year, injuring two Jharkhand Armed Police troopers, a district police officer and three CRPF men on the Palamu-Chatra border.

Maoists has planted the improvised explosive device on the dry riverbed of Jhulsi in Chatra.