‘Sweet death’: Indian man killed after biting into ‘rasgulla’ bomb

A 35-year-old man died after a crude explosive device disguised as a rasgulla detonated in his mouth during a casual conversation with a fellow villager in India’s Madhya Pradesh state.

The incident occurred on Tuesday evening in Padariya Chhanta village of Dindori district, The Indian Express reported.

Dindori Kotwali police station Inspector Durga Prasad Nagpure said the victim, Rajendra Barautiya, had finished dinner at around 7pm and was sitting near a fire in his courtyard.

Around 8pm, a fellow villager identified as Ramabhagat Barautiya arrived and joined him. During their conversation, Ramabhagat allegedly handed Rajendra a pig-killer bomb, claiming it was a rasgulla — a popular South Asian syrupy dessert made from cottage cheese.

Believing it to be a sweet, Rajendra bit into the device, triggering an instant explosion that inflicted severe oral and facial injuries. His family rushed him to Dindori District Hospital in an auto-rickshaw, where doctors pronounced him dead during treatment.

Crude “pig-killer” bombs — locally made pressure explosives packed with gunpowder and shrapnel and coated with food or fat — are illegally used in parts of rural India to poach wild boars and protect crops, frequently posing fatal risks to humans and wildlife.

Police conducted a post-mortem examination on Wednesday before handing the body over to his family.

Authorities have registered a case against Ramabhagat Barautiya under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, alongside Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act. Police are investigating how the accused procured the explosive and his motive, the report said.