CHENNAI: An unexploded piece of ordnance lying on a trek route near the Anumanthapuram firing range in Singaperumal Koil detonated when a group of students kicked it during a trek, killing one engineering student and injuring four others on Monday.The deceased was identified as Emansu Yadav, 21, a fourth-year electrical and electronics engineering student of SRM Engineering College, and the son of Ramesh Singh, who works in the Air Force quarters in Bengaluru. Police said the incident occurred at around 5.30pm when a group of six students climbed a hill located near the firing range without permission.Emansu Yadav sustained fatal injuries to his chest, shoulder and arm and died on the spot. Vishal Venugopal, 21, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student from Hyderabad, suffered severe injuries to his left hand and fingers. Aryan Sharma, 21, from Uttar Pradesh, Krishna Siraj Mahajan, 21, from Jammu, and Nishkas Niraj, 21, from New Delhi, sustained injuries. Another student, Virat Sanjay Kumar, 23, from Meerut, escaped without injury.Police said the students reached the hilltop and noticed an iron object suspected to be unexploded ordnance. One of them kicked the object, which detonated on hitting a rock.The injured were shifted to SRM Hospital in Potheri by an ambulance, and are undergoing treatment.Police said the area is used for firing practice by security forces and suspected that the device could have been an unexploded shell left behind. Singaperumal Koil police registered a case and initiated an investigation. Senior police officers visited the spot and examined the scene. Further inquiry is underway to ascertain how the explosive device remained at the location.
