A nine-year-old girl was killed and two of her friends, both boys, were seriously injured on Saturday morning when a purported crude bomb exploded amid them in East Midnapore’s Nandigram after the trio mistook it for a ball.

Class IV student Jahirun Khatun, 9, succumbed while being rushed to a private hospital in Calcutta from the Nandigram super speciality hospital, where she and her injured friends were taken to by bystanders.

The boys, aged 9 and 10, are admitted in Nandigram in a critical condition.

“The bomb was reportedly discovered near an abandoned home in the area, which had been under litigation for years. It seems the children had wandered inside,” said Kalicharanpur panchayat pradhan, Sohail Kazi.

“Why the bomb burst remains under investigation,” he said.

District police superintendent Amarnath K. said a case of unnatural death had been started by Nandigram police. A forensic investigation has begun probe at the site.

BJP leaders of the area alleged that goons had been stockpiling bombs with active support of Trinamul.

“Ruling party goons always gather in that area and they must have left it (the bomb) there. Unfortunately, a child had to pay the price,” said district BJP vice-president Pralay Pal.

Trinamul leader and panchayat samiti deputy chief Abu Taher refuted BJP’s claims, saying “such an incident should not to be politicised”.

“Police will probe the incident,” he added.