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Seven killed, several injured in explosion at illegal Bengal firecracker factory
At least seven people were killed and several injured in an explosion at an illegal firecracker factory in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district. The explosion took place in a two-storey house, critically injuring the building's owner. The incident has triggered a political controversy, with opposition parties demanding a probe by the National Investigation Agency. This is not the first incident of its kind in West Bengal, and the state government has been accused of not taking enough action to stop illegal firecracker manufacturing.
At least seven people were killed and several injured in a powerful explosion at an illegal firecracker factory in the densely populated Duttapukur area of West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on Sunday morning, police said.
The explosion took place inside a two-storey house around 10.15 am in Nilganj area of Duttapukar, critically injuring the building’s owner, Sheikh Samsul Ali, who allegedly ran the operation.
Keramat Ali, another alleged illegal firecracker maker earlier arrested in May, and his son, Rabiul Ali, were among the deceased, police said. Five of the deceased could not be identified till the evening as the bodies were charred and mutilated.
Nine of the injured were rushed to the Barasat district hospital. There were no women or children among the deceased and injured, police said.
The impact partially demolished three buildings and badly damaged three more in the vicinity. Police had to bring in earthmoving vehicles to remove the debris amid apprehension that more bodies could be lying buried.
“We have received information that some bomb makers from Murshidabad district were hired to work here. It is possible that some of them are among the five deceased who are yet to be identified,” a police officer said on condition of anonymity.
the deaths triggered a political slugfest in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian Secular Front (ISF) demanded a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar wrote a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah, seeking his intervention, although the state government sent a CID team and forensic experts to the spot.
The NIA is probing two explosions that took place in West Bengal in 2021.
Targeting chief minister Mamata Banerjee since she is also in charge of the home department, the opposition alleged that her government took no concrete steps to stop illegal cracker and crude bomb manufacturing after the May 16 explosion at a similar unit at Egra in East Midnapore district, where 10 people, including its owner, Krishnapada Bag, were killed.
“Action will be taken against all those involved in the incident. An investigation is on,” Bhaskar Mukherjee, superintendent of police of Barasat zone, said at the spot, even as area residents raised voices against the administration. They alleged that a nexus helped a racket run several such factories in the area although complaints were lodged at the Duttapukur police station.
The villagers also alleged that those who ran the operation were associated with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) party.
Rathin Ghosh, state food minister and TMC legislator from the local Madhyamgram assembly constituency, said police officers told him that seven or eight people died.
“Firecrackers were stocked in the building where the explosion took place. This is not an area where crackers were made. The main manufacturing hub was the Narayanpur area of Nilganj, which is far away,” Ghosh said. “Police had shut down all the cracker units at Narayanpur after the Egra incident,”
Countering allegations raised by local residents, Ghosh denied knowledge about the factory. “I never received any complaint about this factory. I had no idea it existed,” he said.
So powerful was Sunday’s explosion that one of the bodies was found on the roof an adjoining house. The concrete roof of Sheikh Samsul Ali’s house was ripped off. It rammed against the wall of the adjacent building, damaging it badly.
Angry villagers ransacked a makeshift cracker factory around a kilometre away from the site of the explosion. Dozens of glass beakers, rubber gloves and chemical liquids, items usually seen in science laboratories, were found at the makeshift factory located behind an abandoned brick kiln. Five automatic packaging machines were also found under a bamboo and plastic shed beside the laboratory.
“Sheikh Samsul Ali’s men used to carry out experiments to make powerful bombs,” said Sheikh Najmul, a villager. “The cracker factory was a facade.”
After the May 16 incident at Egra, Banerjee announced that no firecracker unit will be allowed in populated areas.
Ordering a crackdown on illegal factories, which led to several arrests and seizure of around 200 quintals of crackers from across West Bengal, Banerjee formed a committee headed by the home secretary to set up industrial hubs in the districts and train people to make only eco-friendly crackers as stipulated by the National Green Tribunal.
“The chief minister only made speeches to get publicity. Entire West Bengal is a bomb making hub. These bombs are used against opposition parties,” BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said. “The death toll during elections is the proof.”
Minister Ghosh accused the ISF of running the factory at Duttapukur. “I have learnt that an ISF member was running the factory. ISF won the local panchayat seat in the recent polls,” he said.
Nawsad Siddique, the ISF legislator from Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district, dismissed the allegation.
“We won the panchayat seat but it was TMC that ran the bomb making operation. Bombs from this unit were used against ISF workers at Bhangar during the panchayat polls,” Siddique said. “The NIA should take up the investigation.”
West Bengal has seen a number of similar incidents in recent years. In December, for example, at least three people were killed and two injured at a firecracker factory at Mohanpur village in the Nodakhali area of South 24 Parganas. That factory, too, was located inside a residential building in a densely populated area.
Governor C V Ananda Bose, who was in north Bengal, said he will visit Duttapukur after returning to Kolkata. “Proper action will be initiated,” he said.
