E-Paper
₹5 lakh worth illegal crackers seized in Pathankot; three held
Three accused involved in the illegal business have been arrested. They are Vinod Kumar of mohalla Sahibzada, Ashish Kumar of mohalla Rajgarhia, and Bunty of Sarai in Pathankot.
Launching a crackdown against sale of illegal fire crackers ahead of Diwali, Pathankot police on Tuesday seized a huge cache of crackers valuing ₹5 lakh in Gosaipur village. Three accused who were involved in the illegal business have also been arrested. They are identified as Vinod Kumar of Mohalla Sahibzada, Ashish Kumar alias Ashu of Mohalla Rajgarhia and Bunty of Sarai in Pathankot.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harkamal Preet Singh Khakh said that a tip-off was received that some wholesale cracker traders had illegally stored a huge quantity of crackers at village Gusaipur, Pathankot. “Following the input, a police party under the supervision of DSP Dhar Kalan raided and seized the stock. The value of the seized crackers is ₹5 lakh. A case under the relevant section of Explosive Substances Act has been registered against the accused. The accused disclosed that they had purchased these firecrackers from different distributors,” the SSP said.
He further said crackers could not be stored at a residential or congested place. “Permission from the department concerned was needed to store the same. If any untoward incident such as fire happens, it could prove hazardous for people staying in the area and properties located around the godown might also suffer damages,” he added.
“I have already directed all police stations of Pathankot district to conduct surprise checking in their areas to ensure that there would be no illegal storage of crackers to prevent any untoward incident. Any person can also lodge a complaint with the police if they notice, any illegal storage of crackers in their areas. A meeting of wholesale traders is being called to ensure the compliance of the guidelines,” Khakh said.
