3 killed in blast near venue of Abhishek Banerjee's rally in Bengal

At least three people were killed and several others injured in a blast near the venue of senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee's rally in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place in Block 2 of Arjunnagar in Bhupatinagar area, 1.5 km from Contai town where TMC national general secretary Banerjee's public meeting venue, a police officer said.

"The blast was reported in a house around 11.15 pm on Friday and three 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.

"The impact was so powerful that the mud house with a thatched roof was blown off in the incident," the senior officer of Bhupatinagar Police Station said.

The three deceased were identified as Rajkumar Manna, who is reportedly a TMC worker, Debkumar Manna and Biswajit Gayen, he said.

A forensic team later reached the spot and collected samples and a huge police team was deployed there.

Bharatiya Janata Party 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 Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sujan Chakraborty questioned why Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was 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.