Amala (L) and P Benny.

KOZHIKODE: A man with a “thotta”, an improvised explosive used for fishing in the river, strapped to his waist embraced a woman, setting off an explosion that killed them both in Kerala ’s Wayanad district on Friday afternoon.

The deceased were identified as Amala, 38, wife of Elavana Nazar, and Peringattel Benny, 48, from Moolankavu. Police said the incident occurred when Benny came to Nazar’s house at Naikkatti, near Sultan Bethery in Wayanad.

Benny was a family friend of Nazar. The police said they were yet to verify reports that he had a relationship with Amala. Sultan Bethery police said the blast occurred in the verandah of Nazar’s house at around 1.30 pm while Nazar was out to a nearby mosque .

Amala’s five-year-old daughter, playing in front of the house, was knocked unconscious by the blast; she was not otherwise injured. There was no one else in the house when the incident took place.

Police said the explosion dismembered the bodies of the man and the woman. People who were at the nearby mosque for Friday prayers came running to the house when they heard the explosion.

Nazar and Amala ran an Akshaya centre at Naikkatti. Amala leaves behind her husband and three daughters. Benny, a carpenter by profession, ran a furniture shop at Moolankkavu, about 3 km from Naikkatti.

He is survived by a wife and two children. A team of forensic experts, bomb squad personnel and a dog squad inspected the blast site.

