Five firecracker factories being run illegally were sealed in Qadian town of Gurdaspur district on Thursday, a day after at least 23 people were killed in a massive explosion in a similar unit in Batala.
These units are located at Dalla Turning on the Qadian-Batala road, Harchowal road, Rampura road and two near the deputy superintendent of police (DSP)’s office and the State Bank of India (SBI) branch.
Also, two more units, being run in an unauthorised manner at Basrawan and Bhambari villages near the town, were sealed.
Three people had died in Rampura road unit blast a few years ago. It is owned by by one Surinder Singh. The Harchowal road factory owned by one Sulakhan Singh has had three blasts in the last seven years, claiming three lives, including that of his son and two workers.
Qadian station house officer (SHO) Parminder Singh said the sealing drive was undertaken on the orders of the Gurdaspur deputy commissioner Vipul Ujwal after the owners of these units failed to produce licence.
“Two factory owners — Gurdip Singh of Dalla village and Amardeep Singh of Prem Nagar —were booked under Section 9-B of the Explosive Act, 1984,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Two factory owners — Gurdip Singh of Dalla village and Amardeep Singh of Prem Nagar —were booked under Section 9-B of the Explosive Act, 1984,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}ILLEGALLY STORED FIRECRACKERS SEIZED IN BATHINDA
BATHINDA: A day after blast in a firecracker factory in Batala claimed 23 lives, Bathinda police on Thursday searched at least four premises in the city and recovered huge stock of firecrackers illegally stored in a house in congested Afeem Wali Gali, said Bathinda SSP Nanak Singh.
Firecrackers were packed in sacks and boxes. The SSP said that stock was stored illegally as owner of house has no permission to do so. He said that exact quantity of firecrackers recovered can’t be told as stock is still being counted.
He said that police will continue the crackdown against illegally stored firecrackers in coming days.