Cop among 3 killed in Kurnool blast

KURNOOL: Three people including an assistant sub-inspector were killed and one person was severely injured in an explosion near Nandyal check post in Kurnool on Tuesday afternoon, Kurnool SP Gopinath Jatti said. All three deceased belonged to the same family and they had gone to the area to identify a piece of land. In a statement, the SP said that the explosion occurred on Tuesday afternoon near a municipal dumping yard on the Joharapuram road near Nandyal check post.

The impact of the explosion was such that Jampala Mallikarjun (62) and Jampala Rajasekhar (60) died on the spot. Two others, Jampala Srinivas and Sudhakar who were badly injured were admitted to the Kurnool General Hospital. Jampala Srinivas died in the hospital, the SP added. Srinivas had earlier worked in the intelligence (special branch), and was recently posted to Nandikotkur police station.

The SP said that the Jampala brothers owned land on the Joharapuram road near a dumping yard. On Tuesday, they had gone there along with a private land surveyor to fix boundaries. Since the land was covered with debris and they were unable to locate survey marks, they lit a fire to clear the debris. The fire spread quickly and explosives hidden in the thorny thickets exploded, he said.

The police ruled out any possibility of the presence of more explosives and said that the material may have been dumped there unknowingly, while disposing of garbage. On preliminary investigation, the SP said that there was no reason to suspect the role of any anti-social elements in the sudden explosion.

“We have rooted out factionalism in all the villages of the district by conducting intensive searches and counselling the families in villages to lead peaceful lives,” Jatti said. The SP appealed to the villagers to come forward and assist the police in disposing the explosive material. He said that the local people may have hidden them in certain areas and forgotten about them. “Knowingly or unknowingly you may have deposited bombs and other combat material in secret places. Please tell the police about such instances so that they can be disposed of by bomb disposal squads,” the SP said.