Bengal: Police on Wednesday arrested two people and detained four others for their alleged involvement in running an illegal firecracker factory in Egra area of West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district, where nine people were killed in a blast. a senior official said.
He said that both have been arrested for illegal possession of ammunition.
A police team from East Medinipur district also visited neighboring Odisha in search of the absconding factory owner.
“The arrests were made during a search operation conducted in the area late Tuesday night,” the official told PTI.
“Immediately after the blast, the factory owner fled to the neighboring state of Odisha. We are trying to trace him based on the location of his mobile tower. Hopefully we will be able to catch him soon.”
The district police have registered an FIR in connection with Tuesday’s blast in which nine people were killed and several others were injured.
Teams of CID, Forensic Department and Bomb Disposal Squad have also started probing the blast.
He said forensic experts collected samples from the now-demolished house in Khadikul village, which housed the illegal firecracker unit, and its adjoining house.
CID officials spoke to eyewitnesses as well as family members of those killed in the blast. A large contingent of local police has been deployed in the village near the Odisha border.
A doctor at the hospital said that the condition of four people injured in the blast is stated to be critical, where they are undergoing treatment.
“The condition of one woman is extremely critical and the condition of the other three cannot be declared out of danger,” the doctor said.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Governor C V Anand Bose strongly condemned the incident and offered prayers for the departed souls.
Bose said, “It is a very unfortunate incident. This should not have happened. Everyone will have to work together to bring peace in the state.”
Senior BJP leader Shubhendu Adhikari also reached Khadikul village on Wednesday morning. He talked to the local people and tried to see the house from the terrace of the neighboring building where the factory was located.
The officer, who hails from East Medinipur district, reiterated his demand for an NIA probe into the blast.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said on Tuesday that though the CID has been entrusted with the blast probe, she has no objection if the NIA takes over the investigation.
Earlier in the day, a team of Trinamool Congress leaders led by Environment Minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia went there after a section of agitating villagers from Khadikul, who had stopped the police from entering the area.
Accompanied by TMC MP Dola Sen and MLA Soumen Mohapatra, Bhunia met the family members of the deceased and assured them that the state government would look after their needs and arrest the culprits.
However, his stay was short-lived after a section of villagers questioned his delay of a day in reaching the village, and started shouting ‘chor chor’ (thief thief).
“We request the villagers to let the administration work and cooperate with it,” said Bhunia.
