Police crackdown on cracker sale, 459kg of banned 459kg recovered after multiple raids

Senior police officers said that all police personnel on duty across the city have already been directed to enforce the directives and carry out “massive crackdowns” on people involved in the illegal sale and use of crackers.

The Delhi Police on Saturday said they had suspended all the licences given to shopkeepers in Delhi for selling green and PESO-certified firecrackers this Diwali . The decision comes a day after the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) issued a notification for “complete ban” on bursting and sale of all kinds of crackers in Delhi till November 30.

A customer looks to buy green crackers ahead of Diwali festival, at Dariba Kalan, in New Delhi. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

Senior police officers said that all police personnel on duty across the city have already been directed to enforce the directives and carry out “massive crackdowns” on people involved in the illegal sale and use of crackers. As a result, the city police so far have already seized nearly 459 kilograms of banned crackers and arrested three shopkeepers from west, south-west and outer Delhi areas, between Friday and Saturday, for storing and selling firecrackers.

“We (Delhi Police) have suspended all the licences issued for selling firecrackers in Delhi following the DPCC’s notification that has completely banned the sale and use of all crackers till November 30. All licence holders are being informed about the decision through concerned police districts and police stations,” said joint commissioner of police (licencing unit) Suvashis Choudhary.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday had announced a complete ban on firecrackers, including the less pollution green variants, in Delhi from November 7 to November 30. He had said that the decision was taken after assessing the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the city, which was being made worse by the rising pollution levels.

DPCC member secretary had written to the Delhi Police on Friday asking them to enforce the ban from Saturday, and submit a daily action taken report to the state pollution control body. A meeting to chalk out the SoPs of the ban will be chaired by environment minister Gopal Rai on Monday.

As per police data, a total of 167 licences for selling green crackers were issued till November 2. All of them stand suspended after the DPCC issued the “complete ban” notification on Friday (November 6) which kicked in from Saturday.

Officials said that apart from notifying shopkeepers, who obtained licences from 15 police districts, and the licencing unit for firecrackers sale about the ban, the police are also seeking the records of storage of crackers in shops and godowns. The shopkeepers are also being informed that any mismatch in the existing storage quantity may attract legal action.

“Since both sale and use of firecrackers have been banned in the city, we have categorically asked the shopkeepers dealing in such items to ensure that there is no disparity in their existing list of stored crackers. If anyone is returning the crackers to the concerned dealer, distributor, or manufacturer, the proper documentation of the same should be done and furnished before the concerned police station. Their records will be checked periodically,” said deputy commissioner of police (north) Anto Alphonse.

A total of 19 licences were issued to shopkeepers in north police district, with most of the shops in Sadar Bazar area. On Saturday, special teams carried out surprise checks in various markets and residential colonies in north Delhi to enforce the ban and inform the public about the same. Similar arrangements were made in other police district of the city as well, the officials said.

On Saturday morning, the Dabri police station team seized more than 34 kilograms of banned crackers from a shop where they had been illegally accumulated . The shopkeeper, Rakesh Bansal, was arrested under section 9B of the Explosive Act, said deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Santosh Kumar Meena.

“Two policemen on patrolling duty received information regarding storage of banned crackers in a shop at Main Rajapuri Road. A raid was conducted and 34.600 kg of such crackers seized. The shopkeeper failed to produce any licence or documents for the crackers. We have arrested Bansal,” added Meena.

On Friday, nearly 415 kilograms of crackers were seized from a shop in west Delhi’s Raghubir Nagar. The shopkeeper, Sanjay Kumar, also a supplier of crackers and previously involved in four such cases, was arrested by Khayala police station. The crackers were stored in 19 cartons. In a similar operation, a total of 9.2 kilograms of banned crackers were seized from Vishnu Datt in outer Delhi’s Nehru Enclave in Alipur. Datt was arrested.