Low-intensity blast underneath cot kills sleeping man

A local Congress leader was today killed instantly in a low-intensity blast at his home in Nalagonda district, police said.
Police said that Dharma Naik, the upa-sarpanch of Chinthalapalem village and a local Congress leader, died in a blast triggered with explosives used to drive out crop-destroying boars from the fields.
"It was a low-intensity blast and the explosive was placed under a cot on which Naik was sleeping. The blast occurred at around 2.30 am and killed Naik instantly," the official supervising the investigations told PTI.
Police, on the basis of preliminary investigations, ruled out any political angle to the incident and said that it might be connected to some familial issues.

He added that Naik's mother had lodged a complaint with police stating that she suspected the role of a man who was allegedly in a relationship with Naik's second wife.
Police said that they were investigating the angle alleged by Naik's mother.
A case of murder and criminal conspiracy had been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Explosives Act, he said, adding that a probe was underway.