Death Toll In Bengal Illegal Factory Blast Rises To 9, Police Arrest One. Congress Seeks Probe

According to the police, one suspect was apprehended in connection with the explosion at an illegal firework factory in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district.

The blast occurred at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday at the illegal firecracker factory in the North 24 Parganas area, when people were working there.

Source : PTI

A senior police officer stated on Monday that the death toll from the explosion at an illegal firework factory in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district had risen to nine, with one additional corpse found in a pond, news agency PTI reported. According to the officer, one suspect was apprehended in connection with the explosion. On Monday, the situation at Nilgunj's Moshpole under the Duttapukur police station boundaries remained quiet, he claimed. The decapitated corpse was recovered from a pond, while the head was discovered in the courtyard of an adjoining home, according to the officer, who also stated that one hand and two fingers were discovered in the area surrounding the explosion scene.

On the Duttapukur firecracker factory blast, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary said: "After seeing the situation here, I can say that it's not firecracker (blast), there are some more things which police doesn't want to disclose. It should be thoroughly investigated," ANI reported.

#WATCH | West Bengal: On the Duttapukur firecracker factory blast, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary says, "After seeing the situation here, I can say that it's not firecracker (blast), there are some more things which police doesn't want to disclose. It should be thoroughly… pic.twitter.com/W0PM4SrN1n

— ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2023

According to him, police continued their investigation all night and held one individual, whom they suspected was the partner of the owner of the illegal fireworks business.

The officer said the guy was arrested under the Explosives Act 1884 and the Explosives Rules 2008, and that a suo moto complaint had been filed against three individuals in connection with the incident.

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

He stated that five of the nine victims killed in the bombing were members of one family from Murshidabad area.

"Their family members reached here this morning and identified the bodies at the morgue," the officer was quoted by PTI in its report.

A team from the West Bengal State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights arrived in Duttapukur on Monday morning and interacted with villagers as well as the investigating officials.

"We have come here because a couple of children were injured in the blast. We are speaking to the police and local people to understand what actually happened and how these children are involved in the blast," the Commission official was quoted by PTI in its report.

The blast occurred at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday at the illegal firecracker factory in the North 24 Parganas area, when people were working there.

The bomb had such an impact that over 50 residences in the area were partially destroyed, and body pieces of persons were discovered on the terraces of many buildings.

According to police, the proprietor of the illicit firecracker factory and his son, who was also in the unit, were killed in the incident.

According to the officer, police and local administration used JCB machines to demolish the remaining portion of the structure, which housed the illegal firework unit, and clean debris from the area.

Many residents said that after reporting the illegal fireworks unit to the police, no action was taken.

"Now, when so many lives have been lost, what will the police do in arresting people? They should have taken necessary actions when we had complained to them," Ratan Hasan Ali, a local was quoted by PTI in its report.

In May of this year, a similar explosion at an illegal firework factory in Egra, Purba Medinipur district, killed twelve persons, while another explosion in Maheshtala, South 24 Parganas district, killed three.

Soon after the blast, the TMC and BJP clashed, with the saffron party seeking an NIA inquiry and the Trinamool asking the BJP to cease playing "vulture politics."