Patna,(BiharTimes): The blast on a bridge in Obra block of Aurangabad district on Thursday evening, which killed seven people, including Sushil Pandey, husband of the district board member, Usha Devi, is the first such attack on civilians in Bihar in the recent times. Normally, they use landmine blasts to kill central and state police personnel.

However, as Sushil was earlier associated with Ranvir Sena and the killing took place after the Patna high court verdict on Lakshmanpur-Bathe it was being interpreted as a revenge attack. The High Court acquitted all those convicted by the lower court. 

But, according to Maoists sources, Sushil was in their hit-list since long last and it was only coincidental that he was killed after the ruling. 

The blast which killed seven people was so powerful that it blew the Tata Safari, in which they were travelling, into smithereens. Dismembered bodies and limbs lay scattered in an area of about half kilometre from the blast site.

Reports said that Sushil’s torso was found near the engine of the Tata Safari while his lower limbs were blown into pieces and could not be recognized.

He had taken the son of Bhola Pandey of Pisai village, who was bitten by a snake, to the nearby Tarari hospital for treatment. The vehicle had passed through the Pathra crossing about an hour before the blast occurred. It was only on return that the blast occurred.

So the attackers were aware of their movements and planted the landmine within this time.