HYDERABAD: Two brothers were killed and their mother suffered severe injuries in a suspected gas cylinder blast in Raigiri village in Bhuvanagiri mandal in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district of Telangana in the early hours of Monday. The blast caused damage to their house.
Police are probing whether it was a cylinder blast or an explosion due to illegal storage of gelatin sticks in the house.
According to police, the blast took place in the house of Esam Venkat Reddy (50) and Pratap Reddy (40), who live in the same compound. The brothers jointly cultivate five acres of land in their village.
On Sunday night, after completion of Ganesh immersion, the duo returned to their house after midnight and went to bed. Nearly an hour later, a massive explosion ripped through the houses, causing severe damage to the walls and the slab which collapsed on the two brothers sleeping in their rooms.
They died under the debris while their mother Mangamma suffered serious injuries and was shifted to a hospital in Hyderabad.
Venkat Reddy's wife and two children went to Uppal in Hyderabad for holidays while Pratap Reddy's wife and two children went to Jangaon to attend a function.
Neighbours told police that the blast took place in Venkat Reddy's house.
Police, however, are investigating the possibility of foul play because of the severity of the damage. “A gas cylinder explosion would not cause such extreme damage,'' an investigating officer said, adding that farmers in the locality use gelatin sticks to kill wild boar that stray into fields and damage their crops.
Rachakonda deputy commissioner of police Yadagiri said the bomb squad and Clues teams have taken samples from the blast site.