Blast in 50 boxes of crackers at Jalandhar plot in Punjab

A bomb-disposal squad, a team with sniffer dogs, fire department personnel and the police rushed to Baba Mohan Das Colony on Sunday night, after an explosion in 50 boxes of crackers stored illegally at a plot in the area created panic. The crackers had been stored at the plot for over two months, police say, adding that the cause of the blast had not been ascertained yet.

A bomb-disposal squad, a team with sniffer dogs, fire department personnel and the police rushed to Baba Mohan Das Colony on Sunday night, after an explosion in 50 boxes of crackers stored illegally at a plot in the area created panic. The crackers had been stored at the plot for over two months, police say, adding that the cause of the blast had not been ascertained yet.

“The sound of the blast was so strong that it could be heard even 2km away,” claimed a resident of the area, adding that several vehicles parked nearby were damaged. The window panes of over two dozen houses were also shattered, claimed another resident, adding that there was danger that the foundations of some of the houses could also have been damaged. Police have arrested the shopkeeper, Gurdeep Singh alias Gora of Riaz Pura locality, and also booked the caretaker of the plot, Harjinder Singh, who is a local transporter, who is absconding. The owner lives abroad.

“The accused Gora had bought 50 boxes of crackers at ₹70,000 from Ludhiana and stored these at the plot about two months ago. He is already facing two cases for storing crackers illegally at Khingra Gate, where he used to pay ₹3,000 a month for this. There is no terror link,” said police commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, adding that Gora had been in the business of crackers for 15 years.