West Bengal: 1 held after illegal cracker unit blast leaves 8 dead

Police have arrested one person in connection with the blast at an illegal firecracker factory in West Bengal's North 24-Parganas district in which at least eight people were killed and scores injured, an officer said on Monday (August 28).

The arrested person is the partner of the owner of the illegal firecrackers factory, police said.

The situation at Nilgunj’s Moshpole within Duttapukur police station limits was calm on Monday.

“Search operations continued the entire night. However, the lack of power in the area and the huge amount of debris made it tough for us to conduct searches and our investigation. We have arrested one person who was the business partner of the man running the unit,” a senior police officer of Barasat Police District told PTI over the phone.

The man has been booked under the Explosives Act 1884 and Explosives Rules 2008, the officer said, adding that a suo moto case was started against three others in connection with the blast.

The explosion took place on Sunday when several people were working at the factory in Moshpole, around 30 km north of Kolkata. The impact of the blast was such that over 50 houses in the neighbourhood were partially damaged, a senior police officer said on Sunday.

Police said the son of the owner of the unit, who was working at the unit on Sunday morning, was also killed in the blast.

“The matter is under investigation. Anybody found guilty will be punished. At the moment, we are conducting rescue operations,” the officer told PTI on Sunday.

A CID bomb squad, disaster management personnel, and a contingent of police were at the spot, they added.

Bombs in cracker garb?

Locals ransacked the house of one of the owners of the factory following the blast.

Asked whether the factory was also manufacturing bombs under the veil of firecrackers, the officer said the matter should be probed.

“We have seized raw materials used for manufacturing firecrackers. Our forensics team is checking and taking details,” he said.

Twelve people were killed in a similar explosion at an illegal firecracker factory in Purba Medinipur district’s Egra in May.

Governor CV Ananda Bose, who reached Duttapukur from Kolkata airport after returning to the city following his three-day trip to North Bengal, said he would evaluate the situation after paying a visit to the injured undergoing treatment at Barasat Medical College and Hospital.

"This is very shocking and disturbing. I was in Siliguri earlier in the day where one of our young friends died because of an assault on her modesty. That is very painful. Now, we have this incident. I understand that eight precious lives have been lost. I will make an assessment of the situation later," Bose said.

“Vulture politics”

Soon after Sunday’s blast, the TMC and the BJP got involved in a war of words, with the saffron party demanding an NIA probe while the Trinamool asked the BJP to stop practising “vulture politics”.

Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said the state was sitting on a powder keg. “There is no monitoring of illegal activities by police. These cracker units are patronised by local TMC leaders,” he alleged.

The BJP also claimed that the factory was running smoothly with the support of local MLA and state Food Minister Rathin Ghosh.

BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding an NIA probe into the matter.

“Considering the gravity of the situation and the potential threat these incidents pose to the safety and security of the region, I earnestly request your intervention. I urge you to direct the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into these explosions, covering all aspects, including the possibility of any terror-related activities,” he said.

Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh also demanded a probe by the central agency. “Under TMC rule, West Bengal has become a hub of bomb-making factory and terror activities and only an NIA probe can bring out the truth.” BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said there has been at least six such blasts in illegal firecracker factories last year.

“Several people, including kids, have died in blasts in illegal firecracker factories. These factories were later found to be manufacturing crude bombs. This bomb-making industry is flourishing in Bengal because of the nexus of TMC, goons, and police,” he said.

Reacting to the BJP’s allegations, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh equated the BJP with a “vulture” and said it is a useless political outfit that pursues politics over bodies.

“The BJP should stop doing its vulture politics. They are like vultures — waiting for someone to die so that they can come and maul the carcass. They should stop jumping to conclusions and let police complete the probe,” Ghosh said.

Blame on ISF

Rubbishing the saffron party’s allegation, state Food Minister Rathin Ghosh alleged that the Indian Secular Front (ISF) is behind the illegal unit.

“I do not think the administration had any information about this illegal factory. I heard that an ISF activist from Murshidabad had rented the property and was running the illegal unit. I wonder whether they were planning something big,” the minister said.

ISF MLA Naushad Siddiqui alleged that the owner of the factory was a member of the TMC and had full support to run the unit there.

“The owner is a TMC man and he had full support to run this illegal factory,” Siddiqui said.

TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen told PTI that the state government has formed a SIT (Special Investigation Team), which has busted several such illegal fireworks units over the last few months.

“If there are some units still functioning illegally, those will also be busted soon,” he said.

Sen said action against such firework units also invites the ire of locals at times, as thousands of people depend on it for livelihood.

“But we are firm in wiping out the menace of illegal fireworks.” Babla Roy, chairman of the firecracker makers’ association, Sara Bangla Atash Bazi Unnayan Samity, said banned high-decibel “chocolate bombs” were being manufactured at the illegal factory.

(With agency inputs)