Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah suspends three officials, orders inspection of cracker shops across state

The CM also served notices to the DC of Bengaluru Urban district and the SP, and ordered officials to inspect firecracker shops across the state.

Days after the tragic Attibele fire breakout in which as many as 14 were killed, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah suspended three officials, including the Anekal Tehsildar, a jurisdictional police inspector and the regional fire officer, saying that there were “lapses”.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah with DCM DK Shivakumar. (ANI Photo) (CMO Karnataka )

The order for the suspension of these three officials came on Tuesday, with CM Siddaramaiah saying, “There were lapses on the part of the Tahsildar, (Police) Inspector and the Fire Officer. I have given instructions to suspend all the three.”

The CM also served notices to the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban district, who issued a licence to the owner of the firecracker shop, and the Superintendent of Police, and sought an account of what went wrong, leading to the deadly fire.

READ | Toll in Karnataka firecracker shop blast rises to 14, two held, say police

“The DC, who issued licence, and the SP concerned should be served notices. The shopkeeper had the license to sell crackers and not for godown. The shopkeeper had stored 7,000 to 8,000 kg of crackers there, which he had brought from Tamil Nadu. The day incident took place, a truckload of crackers had come and it was being unloaded by people from Tamil Nadu, majority of whom were the poor students, who were paid ₹600 per day,” Siddaramaiah said, as quoted by news agency PTI.

READ | Attibele fire tragedy: ‘Victims were students’, says CM Siddaramaiah

The fire breakout at the cracker go-down occurred on Saturday, killing 14 people and injuring three others critically. While 12 of the victims were killed at the site, two more succumbed later during treatment. The state government has announced ₹5 lakh compensation to the kin of each of the victims.

The CM also ordered officials to inspect firecracker go-downs and shops across the state and cancel their licenses if security measures are not followed, according to another report.

“Henceforth, cracker licence will be renewed on an annual basis and not for a duration of five years,” he added. He further ordered officials to ban crackers during political events, procession, marriages and festivals.