2 killed, several injured in blast near venue of Banerjee's rally

CONTAI (West Bengal): At least two people were killed and several others injured in a blast near the venue of senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee's scheduled rally in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place in Bhupatinagar area, only 1.5 km from Contai town where TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is scheduled to address a public meeting on Saturday, a police officer said.

"The blast was reported in a house around 11.15 pm on Friday and two bodies were recovered on Saturday morning. A few others are injured.

"The cause of the blast is yet to be ascertained and further investigation is underway but the impact was so powerful that the mud house with a thatched roof was blown off in the incident," the senior police officer of Contain sub-division said, adding a forensic team has reached the spot to collect samples.

BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh held the TMC responsible for the incident and said that "only bomb-making industry is flourishing in the state".

Senior CPI (M) leader Sujan Chakraborty questioned why was Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee silent on such incidents and demanded a statement from her.

TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said it is very easy for the opposition to blame the ruling party in West Bengal without any evidence.