INDIA: Explosion of army shell kills two young children

Dear friends, 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to inform you of death of two young children on 20 December 2004 after the explosion of an army shell, which had been carelessly discarded in a tea garden next to an army training facilities. One year ago, Mrs Mithi Mangar, mother of the two young children who died, discovered an unexploded army shell in Karbala tea garden next to the Binnaguri Army Base Camp.  Hoping that she could earn money upon selling the shell, Mrs Mangar took the shell home.  However, on December 20, tragically, the shell exploded while Mrs Mangar’s two children, 14-year-old Yubaraj and 2-year-old Kakshmi, were handling the shell and killed them both. Lakshmi’s sister, Sunita (13), was also severely injured on her leg in the blast.  

The army routinely conducts firing practice in this area, making it very possible for a shell to land in the nearby tea garden without having exploded.  This appears the most likely scenario as to how the unexploded shell came to be in the tea garden, since it is entirely impossible that Mrs Mangar could have penetrated the extensive security which surround India’s army barracks, and taken the shell unnoticed from the army compound.   

As this negligence on the army’s behalf has resulted in the deaths of two young children, we ask that you intervene in this case and demand that the army provide compensation to Mrs Mangar for the immense loss she has suffered. The close vicinity of the target exercise to the local civil population carries the risks to the residents in that area. Please also urge that the army to locate the place of the target exercise far from a residential area and that the firing should be conducted with extreme caution and if a fired shell is believed not to have exploded, the army should retrieve it.   

Urgent Appeals Desk 
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) 
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DETAILED INFORMATION: 

Names of the victims: Yubraj Mangar (14), Lakshmi Rought (2) and Sunita Routh (13) (The three are the children of Mrs Mithi Mangar)
Date of incident: 20 December 2004 
Place of incident: near Karbala Tea Garden, Banarhat District, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India. 
Case status: Two children were killed and one injured due to the explosion of an army shell from Binnaguri Army Base Camp

Case details: 

Approximately one year ago, Mrs Mithi Mangar went to collect grass outside of the Karbala Tea Garden beside the Binnaguri Army Base Camp.  While collecting grass, Mrs Mangar noticed a discarded iron object and decided to take it home without knowing it is an unexploded shell.  Mrs Mangar then attempted to sell the shell, but nobody wished to buy it.  She therefore kept it in her house, hoping to sell it at a later time.

On the morning of 20 December 2004, Mrs Mangar’s 14-year-old son, Yubaraj, along with his neighbour and maternal sister, took the shell from the house and placed it on the road outside.  Yubaraj believed that if he broke the shell into pieces, he would have a good chance of selling off the parts of iron and making money for his efforts.  He therefore took a hammer from his house and proceeded to strike the shell, while his 2-year-old sister, Lakshmi, was standing beside him. Upon being hit by the hammer, the shell exploded, killing Yubaraj instantly and his sister soon after.  Lakshmi’s older sister, Sunia (13), was standing on the veranda of their house at the time, who was struck in the leg by a shrapnel.  

The Superintendent of Police Jalpaiguri, Mr Rahul Shribastab said that most probably the shell came out from Binnaguri Army Base Camp and the police were trying to find out how the shell came out from the army cantonment. After the preliminary inquiry, the police added that the radius of the shell was 81 mm and that it is further examined by the army experts. 

The most likely scenario is that Mrs Mangar collected unexploded shell that landed in the tea garden as the army routinely conducts firing practice in this area and it is entirely impossible that she could have taken the shell from the high security army compound.    

The Binnaguri Army Camp is located very near the Karbala Tea Garden which is eight kilometres from Banarhat.  There are five chandmaris (places for army personnel to carry out target exercise) beside the Base Camp.  Due to the location of the chandmaris, it is common for labourers from the tea garden to hear the target practice taking place.  The close vicinity of the chandmaris to the local civil population is evidently far too close for such hazardous activity and the risks of something going terribly wrong are very high. The army therefore must relocate the place of the target exercise far from the residential area, conduct the firing with extreme caution and if a fired shell has not been exploded, retrieve it.  

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to the Chief Minister of West Bengal and Minister in Charge of Home (Police) Department, Sri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, expressing your concern regarding this case. Please also forward a copy of that letter to the other relevant authorities listed below.

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