Blast at illegal fireworks factory kills 12, injures six
CHIEF MINISTER MAMATA ORDERS PROBE INTO INCIDENT, BJP SEEKS NIA INTERVENTION
An explosion at an illegal fireworks factory in eastern India has killed 12 people and injured six others, a senior police officer said yesterday.
Bharati Ghosh District Superintendent of Police told Gulf News, “Twelve people had died so far and four had been hospitalised with severe injuries. The factory was running illegally and we are conducting a thorough prove. The factory was illegal and was probably being used to make crude bombs.”
The blast took place in the wee hours of yesterday, killing the coowners of the factory Ram Maity and his wife. Another co-owner, Ranjan Maity, was arrested in the morning while trying to flee from the area.
Body parts scattered
Witnesses said human body parts were scattered all over and the impact of the blast had caused cracks in several mud houses in the area.
Locals said that Maity was a well-known Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker in the area and his factory was being used to make crude bombs for local antisocial elements.
Villagers added that the owner used to recruit a lot of minors from other states including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to make the bombs.
“The whole thing was happening for a long time now and it is not that police were unaware. Many villagers have even filed complaints but the local police had not given much importance as people of the ruling party were involved,” Sukdev Jana, a local resident, alleged.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday ordered a CID probe into the explosion.
“Several people died in Pingla. We have ordered a CID investigation into it,” she said.
“How could so many firecrackers be prepared at one place and how were so many explosive substances were accumulated in one place?” Banerjee asked. “I ask all Green police [civic police] personnel in all villages to keep a watch on such activities and to inform the local police station if they find explosive substances being accumulated at any place.”
She also asked the media to keep an eye on any untoward activity and share information with the authorities.
Blaming the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government for rise in terrorist activities in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded a probe by the NIA.
State BJP president Rahul Sinha said a probe by the NIA was essential.
“We have seen how the state government tried to suppress facts in last year’s Burdwan blast case. We all know the police will never do anything to solve the case so we demand a NIA probe into the incident, Sinha said.
A BJP delegation led by legislator Samik Bhattacharya is slated to visit the area.
Rise in terror
Congress leader Abdul Mannan too blamed the ruling Trinamool for the rise in acts of terrorism in the state and demanded a through probe into the incident.
Residents, alleging that the factory was used for making bombs, claimed the toll was much higher.
Communist Party of IndiaMarxist (CPM) has accused government of failing to handle the law and order situation in the state. “What was the use of these bombs? Were they being made to hit the opposition party members ahead of the assembly elections?,” asked a CPM leader.
Some residents claimed workers were missing at the site.
“More than 30 people used to work here and most of them aremissing,” a resident said
Other also accused the police of inaction.
“We have been complaining to the police about the illegal factory and urging action. But they never paid heed. If the police had taken action, so many people would not have been killed,” said another resident.