A 35-year-old man died in a bizarre and horrifying incident after accepting what he believed was a sweet treat from a neighbor, only to discover too late that it was actually a homemade bomb.
Rajendra Barautiya was spending a quiet evening with his family outside their home in Padariya Chhanta, a village in central India, on Tuesday, November 10, when an unexpected visit took a deadly turn.
According to police, Barautiya was sitting around a bonfire in his courtyard after dinner when a fellow villager approached and offered him what appeared to be a rasgulla, a popular Indian dessert made from soft, round balls soaked in sweet syrup.
Trusting that the treat was harmless, Barautiya accepted it and took a bite.
Within seconds, the object exploded.
The blast left Barautiya critically injured as his horrified family rushed to get him medical attention. He was transported to Dindori District Hospital, where he later died despite efforts to save his life.
Investigators subsequently discovered that the supposed dessert was actually a crude explosive commonly known as a “pig-killer bomb.”
These homemade devices are used by some people in rural India to kill wild boars. They are designed to detonate when bitten and can resemble ordinary round food items, making them especially dangerous when mistaken for something edible.
But what has left investigators searching for answers is how one of these deadly devices ended up being handed to an unsuspecting man as a dessert.
Police identified the neighbor accused of giving Barautiya the explosive as Ramabhagat Barautiya. Authorities arrested him and opened a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deadly encounter.
By Friday, November 13, police reported that two men had been arrested and charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, an offense under Indian law involving unlawful killing without the legal elements required for a murder charge.
Investigators are now trying to determine whether Barautiya was deliberately targeted or whether the explosive was offered as a reckless prank that ended in tragedy.
“We don’t know if the motive was to kill, or if it was a mischief,” police officer Rekha Singh told Agence France-Presse. “That is a matter of investigation.”
Authorities are also examining where the explosive originated, how the suspects obtained it and whether anyone else played a role in the incident.
The shocking death has raised questions about the dangers posed by homemade explosives used for hunting and the devastating consequences when such devices fall into the wrong hands.
For Barautiya’s family, an ordinary evening at home ended in an unimaginable tragedy, while police continue investigating whether the deadly encounter was intentional or a reckless act with fatal consequences.
How sad😢