GUWAHATI, May 11: In a tragic incident, a minor boy died in a suspected grenade explosion at Kathakathini village in the Jagun area of Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district on Tuesday morning, police sources said.
Witnesses reported that the deceased, identified Suraj Hajong of Kathakathini, was riding a bicycle and passing through the roadside around 8.30am when the grenade suddenly exploded.
Sources said the boy, aged about 13 to 14 years, was immediately rushed to Margherita Civil Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
“We are yet to ascertain the facts. But we suspect there was a grenade blast. We have started the investigation,” Tinsukia superintendent of police Vaibhav Nimbalkar told the media later.
The SP, along with a police team, rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.
“We do not know how the grenade landed there or how it exploded,” a police officer said.
Jagun is an area located close to the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border. Several encounters between the security forces and militant groups have taken place in the area in the past.