Karnataka blast: Courier franchise owner loses fingers as mixer explodes in Hassan

The incident happened at a DTDC courier franchise office in KR Puram around 7.30 pm on Monday.

According to the police, the courier service delivered a package that came from Bengaluru to a customer in Hassan two days ago.

The customer returned the package to the courier office the same day, stating that he was not expecting any courier from anyone.

Courier franchise owner Shashi Kumar (34), who had to now spend ₹300 from his own pocket to send back the package to the sender’s address, was curious to know what it contained.

He opened the package and found a mixer. While checking if it worked, he plugged it into an electrical socket, which is believed to have triggered the blast, one of the investigating officers told South First.

Police personnel from the Police Inspector (PI) Extension police station in KR Puram rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area.

They also shifted the victim Kumar to a private hospital. His condition was said to be out of danger.

Some fingers on Kumar’s right hand were severed, and he also sustained injuries to his stomach and chest due to the mixer’s blade that hit him, the police sources said.

The cops have registered an FIR under Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosives Substances Act, punishable with up to life imprisonment or death, depending on the nature of the explosion.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the mixer’s blade injured Shashi Kumar and no other material — such as metal shrapnel or ball bearings — was found or used in the mixer.

The aforementioned are typical materials found at any explosion scene or spot where something like an IED is involved, the police stated.

SP Hariram Shankar told South First: “The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) Mysore team arrived last night (Monday) to look at the scene of offence and for sample collection. We are already taking statements of two individuals possibly connected to the incident.”

Soon after ruling out the incident to be an internal security threat, the police started probing the attempt-to-murder angle.

“The sender’s address from Bengaluru could be a fake one, and we are working on it. The recipient was out of harm’s way as he returned the shipment to the courier office stating he was not expecting any delivery. However, Kumar became the victim of circumstances,” the investigating officer said.