Bhubaneswar, Feb. 17: A rag picker sustained severe burn injuries when a crude bomb kept in a plastic bucket in a heap of garbage near Kalyani apartment at Unit-VIII area exploded this morning.

The injured woman Rashida Khatun, 50, is a resident of Kharavela Nagar.

A police control room van rushed her to Capital Hospital from where she was later referred to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack as her condition worsened.

Khatun sustained injuries on her face, right hand, feet and chest.

A police team rushed to the spot following the blast. Forensic experts collected splinters from the blast site. The forensic team collected some small polished stones, threads that were used to wrap the bomb and other elements from the spot.

The investigating officials said that they were inquiring into where did the explosive come from.

Sanjukta Biswal, a local resident, saw Khatun collecting rags from that place around 9 am when there was “a sound of a huge blast”.

“The entire area shook with the sound of the explosion and smoke covered the locality. We rushed to the spot to see that the woman was lying on the ground and bleeding profusely. Garbage were scattered everywhere after the blast. We immediately informed the police who took her to the hospital,” said Biswal, who resides in a nearby apartment.

Ganesh Rout, a local trader, said that local shopkeepers usually threw their waste in that vacant land that had a cemented boundary wall.

Deputy commissioner of police Nitinjeet Singh said that they were looking into the matter. “We will check whether it was a cracker or bomb. The forensic report will make it clear,” he said.

An official in Capital police station said that they were enquiring the local residents and traders to get clues about the incident.