Bawana fire: Police files chargesheet against factory owner, 6 others

The Delhi Police on Wednesday filed a charge sheet in a city court regarding the massive fire that broke out in a factory at Bawana on January 20 this year in which 17 people were killed .

The Delhi Police on Wednesday filed a charge sheet in a city court regarding the massive fire that broke out in a factory at Bawana on January 20 this year in which 17 people were killed .

A massive fire broke out in a factory at Bawana on January 20 this year in which 17 people were killed . (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTOa)

The chargesheet has been filed against factory owner Manoj Jain, co-owner Lalit Goyal and five other accused. It will be taken up during the next hearing date, April 4.

In its charge sheet, police said that the accused had hatched a criminal conspiracy to manufacture fire crackers by adopting illegal means.

The police has named 84 witnesses and given call detail records (CDR) of all the accused in the chargesheet.

The police, while referring to the statement of some witnesses — including the labourers who worked in the factory — alleged that Manoj and Goyal manufactured small “holi gulal fire crackers” with explosive materials without following safety norms. The witnesses said that there was only one entry and exit gate in the factory and there was no fire-fighting equipment in the factory.

Earlier, advocate Rishipal Singh, representing some victims, had told the court that the accused were running the factory without any licence. Police had said that raw materials, including combustible and explosive substances were being procured from outside Delhi.