KANNUR: A high-intensity blast damaged properties and blew up a mud house on the fringe of a forest in Chappamala in Kottiyoor, a Maoist-affected area in Kerala on Saturday night. Since there was no one in the house at the time, there were no causalities.
The Kerala police have detained a man from Tamil Nadu and registered a case against him.
Speaking to New Indian Express, district police chief G Siva Vikram, who visited the spot after the blast, said the blast took place inside the mud house. There seemed to have been two explosives kept in the house.
A preliminary inquiry revealed that the explosives were the kind the forest department uses to deter wild animals. The explosive material in question is said to have been given to the care of a person named Paul Raj, a native of Theni in Tamli Nadu, who is married to a local woman and has been living there for ten years.
The explosives were kept in the mud house for several days and it is suspected that they exploded due to the heat. The house is situated on a piece of land right next to the forest.
The police do not suspect anything untoward although the area is Maoist-affected. "The house was a mud house which could have collapsed even at a push," said the district police chief, adding that they have not ruled out the possibility of a Maoist link to the episode. They are also probing leaders provided by local people that unidentified people were visiting the house on a regular basis.
Paul Raj has been taken in for questioning and a case under the Explosives Act 286 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been booked against him, the police chief said.
Forest officials told New Indian Express that though farmers in the area were indeed supplied given crackers to shoo away animals, it does not explain the scale of the damage tone to the house.
"We might have given about 20-30 crackers to shoo away animals. But those crackers do not have the capacity to a cause so much damage to houses," a senior forest official.
He said that if the explosives were of such potential that they could rip apart a house, animals would certainly be killed and the forest department is liable to answer. This needs to be thoroughly probed, as it is a serious issue, he added.
Meanwhile, a police team led by Irrity deputy superintendent of police Prajeesh Thotathil and sub-inspector Kelakom has been set up to investigate the case.