Man dies in Madhya Pradesh after bomb mistaken for rasgulla explodes in his mouth, two arrested

A man in India has died after a homemade bomb made in the shape of a traditional sweet exploded in his mouth. Police disclosed the information on Friday.

The dead man was named Rajendra Barautia. He was 35 years old.

On Tuesday, he was sitting by a fire with several villagers in Dindori district of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. At that time, one villager brought the 'sweet' and another gave it to Rajendra.

Police officer Rekha Singh told AFP: 'The bomb that some people from tribal communities in the area use to kill wild boars is what was given to this man to eat.'

The police officer also said the bomb exploded inside his mouth.

Rajendra was taken to hospital in a seriously injured condition, where he died.

In some rural areas of India, locally made explosives of this kind are used to kill wild boars.

Small round objects are made by mixing gunpowder with flour dough. The gunpowder for these explosives is usually collected from firecrackers or stone-breaking quarries.

But in appearance they look like India's popular sweet 'rasgulla'. Rasgulla is a soft, round sweet made by soaking it in sugar syrup, and is usually eaten whole by putting it in the mouth.

Two people have been arrested in connection with the incident. They have been charged with committing a culpable homicide offence not amounting to murder.

Rekha Singh said: 'It is not yet certain whether this was done with the intention of killing him, or whether the incident was caused merely as mischief or a joke.'