Delhi blast: Owner of crackers arrested in Meerut

The Delhi Police have arrested 52-year-old Mukhtar Ahmed, the owner of crackers that exploded two days ago in Naya Bazar, Old Delhi. A labourer was killed while six were injured in the explosion.

The Delhi Police have arrested 52-year-old Mukhtar Ahmed, the owner of crackers that exploded two days ago in Naya Bazar, Old Delhi. A labourer was killed while six were injured in the explosion.

A labourer was killed while six were injured in the explosion at Old Delhi on Tuesday. (Virendra Singh Gosain/Hindustan Times)

Ahmed was arrested in Meerut on Thursday and brought to Delhi, police said.

Ahmed was absconding since the incident on Tuesday morning in the wholesale food grain market in Lahori Gate. At least 15 establishments, including houses and shops, were damaged.

“We learnt about his possible hideouts and raided them but he could not be caught. But finally we tracked the location of his phone in Meerut,” said a senior police officer.

A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and Explosive Substances Act was registered in connection with the blast. Ahmed was wanted in the case as the crackers not only belonged to him but also they were stored illegally at a rented godown in Fatak Hawas Khana, Lahori Gate.

Read: Naya Bazar explosion: Cops search for firecracker owner Mukhtar Ahmed

Ahmed told police that he manufactures ring caps and puts potassium powder on it. Police said that all ring caps in the market have potassium powder but they are produced by only licensed manufacturers. Ahmed only had a licence to sell crackers and not make the ring caps.

The police had earlier raided his Lahori Gate home and found his two wives, who claimed that they were unaware about Ahmed’s location. A senior police officer said Ahmed had switched off his mobile phones after the police raided his house.

DCP (North) Madhur Verma said Ahmed’s godowns where he was illegally storing the firecrackers has been sealed. Verma said Ahmed confessed that he had asked deceased labourer Mutalip Mirza to take the explosives to his three shops on Tuesday.