Man plants speaker bomb to frame in-laws:Explosion in temple complex injures 3, arrested

A man accused of planting a speaker bomb at the Ranagir Devi Dham temple complex in Sagar has confessed that he intended to frame his in-laws. The blast, which occurred on March 17, left three people injured, including an 11-year-old girl who is currently undergoing treatment in Bhopal. “I made the speaker bomb to trap my wife’s family. I wanted it to look like a terrorist attack so that they would be implicated,” the accused admitted during police interrogation. Speaker bomb left outside shop On March 16, the accused visited the Budhi Ranagir Mata temple and left a Bluetooth speaker outside a prasad shop owned by Radheshyam Raikwar. Assuming it had been forgotten by someone, Raikwar took the speaker home for safekeeping. The following night, after dinner, his 11-year-old granddaughter Sanjana switched on the speaker by connecting it to a mobile phone. As soon as it was powered on, a powerful explosion occurred, injuring Sanjana, Raikwar, and his wife Ashokarani. Sanjana sustained severe injuries to her face, head, limbs, and knee, and later underwent surgery in Bhopal. The other two victims were treated in Sagar. Initial probe misread blast as battery explosion Initially, local authorities suspected a mobile battery explosion, and even the tehsildar ruled out the possibility of a bomb blast. However, doctors treating the victims raised doubts, stating that such severe injuries were unlikely from a battery explosion. This prompted a deeper investigation. Superintendent of Police Vikas Kumar Sahwal and Additional SP Lokesh Sinha visited the site, where wires and other suspicious materials were recovered. A Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) and forensic team later confirmed the use of explosives in the blast. Message to priest led police to accused A crucial breakthrough came from a message sent to temple priest Vinod Shastri on the morning of March 17. The message warned of a possible bomb blast at the temple and named several individuals as suspects. The priest had informed the Rahli police station the same day, but the warning was not taken seriously at the time. During the investigation, police traced the mobile number used to send the message to Golu alias Imarat Patel, a resident of Patai village. After initially trying to mislead investigators, he eventually confessed. Marriage dispute turned into criminal conspiracy Police revealed that the accused had married a woman, Noorjahan, in June 2025 despite family opposition. She was 11 years older and already married with four children—facts that were allegedly concealed from him. Following disputes, Noorjahan returned to her parental home in February 2026 and refused to come back despite repeated requests. Angered by this, the accused conspired with his friend Nilesh to frame his in-laws in a terror case. Bomb assembled using explosives and Online tutorials The accused, who had prior experience working in mines, used his knowledge to procure detonators and extract explosive material from a crude device. With the help of YouTube tutorials and his accomplice, he assembled the explosive device inside a Bluetooth speaker using an electric circuit. He then planted it at the temple complex to make it appear like a terrorist attack, intending to implicate his wife’s family. Accused arrested, sent to jail Additional SP Lokesh Sinha confirmed that both accused have been arrested, produced before a court, and sent to judicial custody. The case has raised serious concerns over misuse of technology and the failure to act promptly on early warnings that could have prevented the incident.