THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: During the past several months, several persons, mostly children, have been injured when they accidentally set off country bombs stashed away by criminal elements in the district.

In the past one month, as many as six persons, including five children, were injured in such explosions. The police have not been able to fix responsibility in any of the cases.

Official sources said the feud between criminal gangs in the wake of several gangland killings in the district this year has resulted in an increased production of locally made explosives, machetes and swords. Fearing retaliatory attacks, criminal gangs in the district often keep their arsenal in places that can be easily accessed at any time.

On May 12, a six-year-old was injured when he accidentally set off a country bomb at Menamkulam. Ameen had the found the bomb hidden in the crevice of a rock. His palm was shattered in the explosion.

On April 29, three children who were playing near the sewage farm at Valiathura found a round object inside a garbage dump. The object exploded when they tried to smash it open. Lizi, 7, her brother, Pramod, 12, and neighbour, Sumesh, 12, were seriously injured in the explosion.

A 40-year-old man was seriously injured at Chittattumukku in Kazhakkuttom on April 26 when his spade stuck a country bomb while he was shovelling earth for agricultural purposes in his compound. Last month, residents who were digging a well in Kazhakkuttom found six locally made explosives under the earth. The Circle Inspector, Poonthura, E. N. Suresh, said the police have no clue as to who put the bomb inside the garbage dump at Valiathura. However, local people blame the explosion on an ongoing feud between two criminal gangs based in Shanghumugham and Puthenthope. They said the gang members were often seen in the area where the explosion took place.

The gangland feud had spilled over to the streets this year with one of the gangs waylaying its opponents at Poojappura. Several people were injured in the attack that occurred near an apartment complex occupied by senior police officials and bureaucrats.

A gang leader, who shot into fame after being featured as a model in a television advertisement for a shopping mall at Devaswom Board junction, was named as the prime accused in the case. He managed to evade police custody and later surrendered before the court. A senior official said the political and police patronage enjoyed by the gang leader had made his arrest difficult. The Circle Inspector, Muhammad Iqbal, said explosions in Kazhakkuttom area have been traced back to certain criminal gangs in Kalpana Colony and Menamkulam areas.

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