2 arrested after crude bomb goes off in Mumbai shanty

Two persons including a minor were arrested in Mumbai's Antop Hill area after a crude bomb they were assembling went off, a Crime Branch official said Tuesday.

The bomb, packed in a tin box, contained potassium nitrate obtained from four "sutli" (twine) firecrackers with glass pieces and nails added to it, the official said.

The bomb went off on Sunday in the shanty in which the two accused were staying in Noora Bazar locality of Antop Hill's Bangalpura area, alerting neighbours and subsequently the police, the official said.

Police identified the two accused as Azrul Sheikh (22) and a minor, both daily wage workers hailing from West Bengal.

"The two accused made a bomb from potassium nitrate powder obtained from four sutli bombs. They added glass pieces and nails to it. They had bought a packet of sutli bombs and after bursting six of them, used the other four to assemble this bomb," explained Dilip Sawant, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection).

He said Sheikh was injured when the bomb went off.

Antop Hill police registered a case and the two accused were produced in court and remanded in police custody for seven days, he informed.

The DCP said that a Mumbai police team had left for West Bengal to conduct further probe into the case.