The deadly combination of Maoist plans to derail Bihar’s Assembly elections and alleged neglect by the state police brought violent death to seven innocent schoolchildren and a man in Aurangabad district on Sunday morning when a cylinder bomb left unattended went off. A dozen people were also injured.
The powerful bomb, suspected to have been planted by the left-wing rebels during the sixth and final phase of polling on Saturday, was discovered by the police on Saturday itself while voting was in progress in the Maoist-affected district, but was inexplicably left unattended and not defused.
Schoolchildren going to tuition classes at around 7 am Sunday came in contact with the live bomb which the policemen had placed in a field, carelessly covering it with sandbags.
The children and a man died on the spot at Pachokhar village under Deo police station.