Head constable Kedar Kafle, 28, was operating the computer in the communications room of Revenue and Customs Security Base when the monitor exploded killing him, said inspector Bishnu Upreti. [break]
The explosion was very loud and it even destroyed the roof, leading to initial suspicion that a bomb might have exploded. But after investigation, police ruled out bomb explosion.
Kafle, who was seriously injured in the explosion that occurred at 10:05 am, died while being treated at National Medical College in Birgunj. Assistant sub-inspector Ram Lama and sub-inspector Hari Krishna Khadka, who were working in an adjoining room, received minor injuries. They received cuts by glass splinters from the CRT monitor.
Kafle, who is from Saurhawa VDC-3, Bardiya, was emailing progress report from the communications room located inside the Birgunj Customs Office to headquarters when the explosion occurred.
Kafle had married recently, a colleague said.
A police team from the District Police Office Parsa who reached the spot after the incident found that a voltage guard was not used for operating the computer. "It looks like the computer exploded after not being able to bear the flow of electricity," inspector Manjil Mukarung said.
The computer´s Central Processing Unit was also completely damaged.
Ravindra Sah, a computer hardware technician, suspected that the explosion could have occurred due to overheating caused by blockage in the monitor´s ventilation. He said the ventilation pores could have been blocked by dust. He said that old CRT monitors need to be cleaned up time and again.
Immediately after the explosion, several underground outfits phoned journalists and claimed that they had planted bomb in the computer.
But District Police Office Parsa rubbished the claims after preliminary investigation.
"There is no crater in the spot of the explosion, and suspicious objects have also not been found," said DSP Dibesh Lohani.
