Parcel bomb kills Julm se Jung journalist Chaitali Santra in Bengal

A parcel delivered to the Howrah correspondent of a small Hindi newspaper exploded in her hands Wednesday afternoon,killing her instantly. The bomb,which exploded around 1.30 pm,blew away the window of 40-something Chaitali Santras bedroom in Howrahs South Banksara,slammed her body against a wall,and severely injured her husband Himangshu. He is fighting for life in hospital.

Santra wrote for a Delhi-based weekly called Julm se Jung,and relatives said she could have been targeted by someone whom she had hurt with her reporting.

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She reported on crime and had made several enemies. She used to get threatening calls. Someone called last week,and I heard her saying on the phone,If you are so close to my home,why dont you just come in instead of asking me to go out? Satabdi Santra,the journalists college-going daughter said.

Howrah Madhya legislator and state Agriculture Marketing Minister Arup Roy said: This is probably the first incident of a parcel bomb in West Bengal.

The police said they were investigating where the parcel came from.