Journalism of Courage
Two persons — a woman carrying a crude bomb and a police constable — were killed and 18 injured when the bomb detonated at the Ara Civil Court on Friday. Police are investigating whether the woman blew herself up or if the blast was “accidental”. Police said the incident appeared to be aimed at helping two prisoners flee.
The two prisoners who escaped have been identified as Lambu Sharma, convicted in the 2009 Ara court bomb blast in which advocate Vinay Tiwari was killed, and Akhilesh Upadhyay alias Musa, an accused in a dacoity case.
According to reports, the incident took place at around 11:30 am, when the prisoners were being taken to the court lock-up. The unidentified woman, in her mid-thirties, reportedly got into an argument with constable Amit Kumar when she refused to make way for the prisoners. The woman was reportedly carrying a bag and wearing earphones.
The argument was followed by a blast, which tore off her limbs and killed Kumar also. Police are not sure if the woman blew herself up or the bomb fell during a scuffle with the crowd and police. Bomb splinters were found on her body and a SIM card was recovered from her cellphone.
Police sources said the woman who was killed in the blast had met Lambu Sharma in Ara district jail on January 12, as recorded by CCTV footage. The police, however, did not reveal the woman’s name.
Additional DGP (headquarters) Gupteshwar Pandey said the “human bomb” angle was being probed and the cellphone and SIM card recovered from the woman would reveal more details.
“We suspect the woman was working as a conduit and may have intended to pass the bag with the bomb to an associate of Lambu Sharma to conduct a blast and facilitate the escape of Sharma and Upadhyay,” said Bhojpur SP Akhtar Hussain.
“They had not succeeded in facilitating the escape of some criminals in 2009. But they succeeded in freeing Sharma and Upadhyay this time,” said the SP.
Most of the people who were injured were hit in their legs.
“The woman was pushing her way to the police lock-up, but nobody thought she was carrying a bomb,” said Dwarka Pathak, one of the two injured policemen at the Ara Sadar Hospital.
“I saw the woman carrying a bag. She was blocking the path of the police and arguing with them,” said Deen Dayal Paswan, another injured.
A 12-year-old girl Sushma Kumari, who had gone to court to meet her father who was jailed in a property dispute case, was among the injured.
When asked about the CPI(ML)’s allegation that Friday’s blast was a “backlash” of the Kumuri rape case verdict, in which 28 upper-caste people were held responsible, Bhojpur DM Pankaj Pal said, “There is no such connection. The Ara court blast has to do with escape of two prisoners”.
