Sunsari Police Chief SP Raju Manandhar, 25-year-old Tekraj Giri, 24-year-old Surendra Pokhrel, 13-year-old Sunil Bhujel and 44-year-old Ritbahadur Thapa were injured in the explosion. According to Sunsari District Police Office, Giri, Pokhrel and Bhujel are from Itahari-4 while Thapa is a resident of Mrigolia, Morang. [break]
Both the Nepal Police and Traffic Police personnel were on duty when the bomb exploded.
Among the injured, Giri´s condition is critical. He has sustained serious injuries to his right hand and chest. Similarly, SP Manandhar had to undergo left ankle surgery, while the rest of the injured are in a normal condition. All the five have been receiving treatment at BP Koirala Medical Institute of Health and Sciences, Dharan.
A team led by Durgaraj Sharma, captain of the Nepal Army Headquarters, Eastern Division, had reached the spot at 11 am.
“Had the team reached on time, the explosion could have been prevented,” a police personnel said.
The bomb was placed 500 meters away from the Eastern division Headquarters and 400 meters away from the Area Police Office, Itahari. The police only came to know about the bomb after a person, who had seen a motorbike-borne man place it, informed them.
The police personnel at the Area police office said that the crossroad remains too busy to notice small things. “As the area remains very crowded, we could not notice the bomb,” he said.
Noticeably, a man, who had lost his mental balance, had tried to take away the bomb while the team was trying to dispose it. On the other hand, the entire incident had irked and scared the public.
Khumbuwan Samyukta Jatiya Mukti Morcha has claimed responsibility for the explosion. Before this incident, the Morcha had placed bomb in several four places in Itahari.
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