Six, including teenage girl injured in blast

Six people, including a teenage girl, were injured and several houses and vehicles damaged in an blast in a two-storeyed building where a huge cache of explosives was allegedly illegally stored at Kannur district's Podikkund area in poll-bound Kerala late last night.
The rented house, where the explosives were illegally kept, was completely destroyed in the blast that occurred around 11.30 PM at Rajendra Nagar colony, police said.
Anu Malik, a non-Keralite who had rented the building for illegally storing the huge amount of explosives, was taken into custody.
As per the preliminary investigation, the explosives were allegedly meant for manufacturing crackers in connection with temple festivals, police added.

Police and bomb disposal squad have collected samples from the blast area for detailed examination.
Malik's 12-year-old daughter Hiba was seriously injured in the blast while his wife suffered minor injuries.

The three were at a nearby house when the incident took place.
All the injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals.
As many as 12 nearby houses and vehicles parked in the area were damaged.