Beed mosque blast: Two held; accused shot reel with explosives

The police on Sunday said that two people were held in connection with the Beed mosque blast case and the accused had shot a reel with the explosives reported the PTIGelatin sticks kept allegedly by a man at a mosque had triggered a blast in Maharashtras Beed district early on Sunday the police saidThe police have arrested two persons in connection with the explosion that occurred around 230 am at the mosque in Ardha Masla village in Georai tehsil an official said as per the PTIAccording to the police one of the arrested accused had earlier shot a reel with the explosives and a cigarette in his hand before placing them inside the mosque according to the PTIWhile no one was injured in the blast the internal portion of the structure was damaged he saidThe police have arrested Vijay Rama Gavhane 22 and Sriram Ashok Sagde 24 both residents of Ardha Masla village an official said the PTI reportedGavhane is involved in digging wells He shot a reel earlier while smoking a cigarette and playing with a bundle of gelatin sticks He might have obtained the sticks from a licensed seller he said the news agency reported on SundayIn rural Maharashtra gelatin sticks are used to carry out blasts in wells quarries and minesThe local crime branch is probing into the incident it was statedThe incident led to tension in the villageAn official said heavy security was deployed in the village to prevent law and order issuesThe accused entered the mosque from the back and allegedly kept some gelatin sticks there which triggered a blast as per officialsThe village head alerted the Talawada police around 4 amThe internal portion of the mosque was damaged in the blast an official saidBeed Superintendent of Police Navneet Kanwat and other senior officials had rushed to the spot following the incidentA bomb detection and disposal squad BDDS along with a forensic science team also reached the spot the official saidKanwat said that the Beed Police have apprehended two persons in connection with the blast and a case has been registered against themHe also appealed to people not to spread rumours and help the police maintain law and orderAccording to locals there was a scuffle between two groups on Saturday night during a Sandal procession at the villageThe village has a tradition of celebrating festivals together they saidDuring the Gudi Padwa festival Hindus visit Hazrat Sayyad Badshah Dargah near the mosque a villager saidAs the joint celebration for Gudi Padwa and Ramzan Eid was scheduled on Sunday morning the accused persons tried to blow up the mosque using gelatin sticks he said the news agency reportedwith PTI inputs