Criminal injured during bomb making dies in hospital

Bhubaneswar: Notorious criminal Sehnawaz Malik (26), who was critically injured along with three others while allegedly assembling bombs on the rooftop of his house in the Airfield area on Jan 27, succumbed to his injuries during treatment on Wednesday, the city police confirmed.

His mother, fiancée, and another associate — also injured in the blast — are currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital in the city. “He had suffered serious burn injuries on his body. He succumbed in the afternoon,” an officer of the Airfield police station said.


The explosion was so intense that it prompted the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to conduct a preliminary inquiry. The investigators later ruled out any links to terrorism or radicalisation.

Malik, released on bail six months ago following a political clash in Nayapalli, had been under close police watch. Police authorities had hoped to question him to ascertain whether he was acting alone or had accomplices, and whether the explosives were meant for criminal activities or political violence. His death, however, is expected to slow down the probe.

“Since his mother, fiancée, and associate were also involved in preparing the bombs, we will seek details from them once they recover. Prima facie, we suspect that deceased Malik’s intention was to supply the explosives to criminal groups. He had previously supplied bombs to different criminal gangs and used the explosives himself in some crimes,” the police officer said.

Malik was previously booked in 7 serious offences, including attempted murder and cases under the Arms Act at Nayapalli and Maitri Vihar police stations here.