It was on September 19, 2017, when seven persons were killed and three were injured critically after a firecracker factory was blown in a blast at Sular Gharat village in Sangrur district’s Dirba sub-division.
Even as police booked the owners of factory-cum-godown, Pardeep Kumar and Gandhi Ram, and the state government marked a magisterial probe by the then additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Upkar Singh, the findings of the report were never produced in court, which let off the accused for want of evidence.
The magisterial probe had indicted the owners of godown for manufacturing and storing firecrackers illegally as they did not have a licence to do so.
Moreover, the accused told the court that they were also victims as the blast took in an adjacent building which was sealed by the directorate of revenue intelligence, a claim that never cropped up in police’s or magisterial probe.
Also, the victims’ families went for an out-of-court settlement in lieu of money and failed to back the prosecution theory during trial even as the government paid them ex-gratia amount.
Additional sessions judge KK Singla observed in his judgment, “Fair investigation in the case is totally lacking. Undoubtedly, it has come on record that a house was sealed by the directorate of revenue intelligence towards the gurdwara side, the authorities did not bother to check whether the blast took place in the sealed area.”
{{/usCountry}}Additional sessions judge KK Singla observed in his judgment, “Fair investigation in the case is totally lacking. Undoubtedly, it has come on record that a house was sealed by the directorate of revenue intelligence towards the gurdwara side, the authorities did not bother to check whether the blast took place in the sealed area.”
{{/usCountry}}After the factory owners’ acquittal, leader of opposition in Punjab assembly and Dirba MLA Harpal Singh Cheema demanded that the case should be probed by some higher agency.
“Seven people were killed in the blast but police failed to collect sufficient evidence against the accused. Even the magisterial probe was not put on record. I demand that the matter should be probed by CBI or some other agency,” he had said.