A police officer at the blast site outside Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Wednesday. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, June 12: A woman was injured in a suspected crude bomb explosion near Barabati Stadium at Cantonment here today.

The injured woman has been identified as Sulochana Dei, 60, who works as a sweeper with the Cuttack Municipal Corporation.

The incident occurred around 9.15am when Sulochana was dumping garbage in a dustbin placed outside Barabati Stadium near Horse Gate.

She has suffered minor injuries on her forehead and hand and is undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital.

“I had collected garbage from the nearby area and was busy dumping the waste in the dustbin when I found a box-like object wrapped in polythene,” said Sulochana.

She said that as soon as she took out a tin inside the polythene, there was an explosion.

“I was helping my wife to clean up the area this morning. But, the explosion took place while I was busy collecting waste from the field opposite Horse Gate,” said Sulochana’s husband Hari Nayak.

Nayak said though the explosion was not too loud, the area was filled with smoke.

“I was serving dahibara to customers when I heard a loud bang. Later, we came to know that there was an explosion and a woman sweeper was injured in the incident,” said Santosh, a dahibara kiosk owner in the area.

Following the incident, Cantonment police reached the spot and rushed the injured woman to SCB Medical College and Hospital.

Cantonment police and forensic experts also visited the spot. However, they remained tight-lipped about the incident and refused to divulge much information.

“We are yet to ascertain the cause behind the explosion. Moreover, we have not found any remnants or traces of any crude bomb or any other object,” said inspector in charge of Cantonment police station Kedarnath Sahoo.