3 Killed in bomb blast at Trinomool leader's West Bengal home

At least three people were killed and several injured in a bomb blast that occurred at a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader's home in West Bengal's East Medinipur.

According to officials, the bomb went off at 11:15 pm on Friday and destroyed the Trinamool Congress's booth president's house, reports NDTV.

This comes ahead of TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee's rally in the district on Saturday.

The blast took place in Naryabila village in Bhagabanpur Block 2 under Bhupatinagar Police Station, which is only 1.5 km from Contai town where TMC national general secretary Abhishek is scheduled to address a public meeting, according to reports.

"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," a senior police officer said.

Reacting to the incident, BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh stated that "only bomb-making industry is flourishing in the state".

Indian Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's silence was questioned by many as well as the Senior CPI (M) leader Sujan Chakraborty.

Panchayat elections are set to take place early next year and the police have been instructed to launch combing operations across the state to expose country-made bombs and weapons across the state before the elections. 

Previously panchayat elections in 2018 were marred by large-scale violence in the state. Therefore, the ruling TMC says Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered the police to ensure peaceful elections.