KARWAR:An explosion close to the dais from which Bhatkal MLA Mankal Subba Vaidya was inaugurating a district-level volleyball tournament in Hosad village of Honnavar town in Uttara Kannada district late on Sunday has triggered panic in the area.The explosion, according to the police, ripped off the hand of Raymond Mirand, a resident of Prabhat Nagar in the town, at the wrist.
Raymond, who allegedly attempted to throw a crude bomb at the stage when it off, was rushed to Kasturba Medical College hospital in Manipal for treatment.A witness to the incident, Ganapati Ambiga, has claimed that he saw Raymond Mirand trying to throw the bomb at the stage where the event was ongoing from an adjacent compound 40-50 metres away.
“Luckily, he was in another compound and not inside the one where the event was being held, in which a big crowd had gathered. That would have resulted in injuries to more people or even death of somebody. The explosion caused a deafening sound, while some even felt tremours,” he said.
The incident that occurred around 11.15 pm, has got people accusing Raymond of trying to kill the MLA, who has gained tremendous popularity of late because of a number of developmental works going on in his constituency.
The police, though, have not confirmed that it was indeed a bomb that went off. Superintendent of Police Vinayak Patil said, “It may have been a bomb or a firecracker. Experts from Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Bengaluru, have been summoned to investigate the explosion, the cause of which we will be able to tell only after their report.”
BHATKAL MLA blames rivals
After the incident, Bhatkal MLA Mankal Vaidya accused his political rivals of trying to kill him. The MLA from Bhatkal-Honnavar said it was an act of his opponents who were “unhappy with his growth in politics”. “People have given me an opportunity to serve them, so I have been working around the clock to serve them. Political opponents, who are not happy with my popularity, have plotted to kill me, by sending one of their men to do the job,” he said. “Such incidents never happened in the state before. I feel sad for the turn of events. Luckily, no one else was hurt in the incident.