Two held for sale of illegal firecrackers in Noida ahead of Diwali

In two separate raids, two suspects were arrested by Gautam Budh Nagar police on Sunday for illegal storage and sale of illegal firecrackers

In two separate raids, two suspects were arrested by Gautam Budh Nagar police on Sunday for illegal storage and sale of illegal firecrackers.

Noida, India- October 23, 2022: A view of traffic jam at Sector 27 Atta market road on the eve of Diwali, in Noida, India, on Sunday, October 23, 2022. (Photo by Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times) To go with Snehil’s story (Hindustan Times)

Police said the first suspect has been identified as Brajesh, a native of Hapur district. He was arrested by Kasna police station personnel. The second suspect, Bhole, a native of Budaun district, was arrested by personnel of Sector 24 police station.

Huge quantity of illegal firecrackers was seized from both the suspects, police said, adding that cases have been registered against both the suspects under various sections of the Explosives Act.

According to the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) guidelines for the National Capital Region (NCR), sale and bursting of crackers will be banned if the air quality index (AQI) is over 200. Incidentally, Delhi had already imposed a ban on firecrackers last month.

The AQI on Sunday was 236 in Noida, 270 in Ghaziabad and 202 in Greater Noida— all in the ‘poor’ category.

“We are following the government order and police will take strict action if any offenders are caught,” said Suhas LY, Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate.

Although green crackers are allowed, joint commissioner of police (law and order), Ravi Shankar Chhabi, said that nobody has applied for licences for green crackers in Gautam Budh Nagar.

Meanwhile, usually observed two days before Diwali, Dhanteras was spread over Saturday as well as Sunday this year, leading to heavy traffic around the commercial areas of Sector 18 and Atta Market on Sunday. Traffic police deployed extra personnel and also used drones for surveillance on both the days.

“We have created diversions and are regulating traffic so that vehicles do not come to a standstill. We have enough deployment of personnel and we are also using the integrated traffic management system (ITMS) for further assistance,” said Ganesh Prasad Saha, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), Gautam Budh Nagar.