Parcel explodes at Ahmednagar courier office; 3 injured

Maharashtra: Three persons were injured when a parcel that was to be delivered to the chief of a Pune-based NGO exploded in a private courier company's office here, police said today.

The incident took place last night and the police were ascertaining the exact cause and nature of the blast, an official said.

The blast occurred around 10 pm last night when the staff at the private courier company's office in the Maliwada area was handling the parcel, Kotwali police station inspector Abhay Parmar said.

Three staffers of the courier company were injured in the blast and admitted to a hospital, he added.

Doctors at the hospital said all of them were out of danger now.

The parcel was meant for Sanjay Nahar, president of Pune-based NGO "Sarhad", which worked in the border areas of the country, a police source said.

"The police informed me that the parcel was meant for me," Nahar said.

He added that a police team was expected to meet him to find out if he suspected anyone's involvement in the incident.

Based on the description of the man who dropped the parcel at the courier office, the police have released his sketch.

Nashik region DIG Vijaykumar Chobhe visited the courier office, along with district police chief Ranjankumar Sharma and other top police officials.

"We are yet to get specific clues, but a thorough probe is being carried out into the matter," Sharma said.

According to a website dedicated to Nahar, the NGO was founded as a social, cultural and educational organisation to work for the welfare of the people in the strife-torn border regions.

Starting with Punjab in the 1980s, it evolved into "Sarhad" in the 1990s, when it began working in Jammu and Kashmir, it said.

The NGO also runs a college in Pune, which provides education to over 150 Kashmiri students.