Phulbani, September 27: One person was killed and three others injured when a crude bomb being prepared at a rehabilitation centre in Kandhamal district exploded today.
The incident occurred this afternoon when the crude explosive went off when it was being prepared by a man at a tent located in the middle of the rehabilitation centre at Nandagiri, 54 km from here, Kandhamal SP Praveen Kumar said.
Rejecting any communal angle into the incident, he said initially it appeared as if a miscreant hurled the bomb at the rehabilitation centre but probe revealed that it exploded in the tent occupied by one Patrasen Mallick.
While Mallick and two others sustained injuries, another person whose identity was not yet known, died on the spot.
Mallick was hospitalised at G Udaygiri and the other two injured were discharged after administering first aid.
Police, however, did not rule out possibility of Maoist involvement in the incident as the deceased did not belong to the rehabilitation centre.
A subsequent search at the centre also led to seizure of four country-made guns, the SP said adding that police was investigating the matter. .
—Agencies