Bengal blast: Police arrests one in connection with illegal firecracker factory blast 

“So far, nine persons have died in the incident. One person, identified as Safikul Islam, has been arrested in connection with the blast,” a senior police officer said.

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A large police force reached the spot after receiving the news of the blast. (Express photo by Shashi Ghosh)

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According to local sources, the house at Duttapukur in Barasat stored raw materials for cracker production without necessary permissions. (Express photo by Shashi Ghosh)

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Local people claimed at least four were killed in the explosion. (Express photo by Shashi Ghosh)

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“A few people are feared dead in an explosion in Duttapukur," a local police official said. (Express photo by Shashi Ghosh)

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He said that "all the inured" had been taken to the Barasat hospital for treatment. (Express photo by Shashi Ghosh)

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However, the police have not confirmed any deaths yet. "The number of deaths can’t be confirmed yet," the official said. (Express photo by Shashi Ghosh)

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The police official added that "a rescue operation is underway". (Express photo by Shashi Ghosh)

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Nearby houses were also reportedly damaged in the high-intensity explosion. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

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This is not the first time an illegal firework factory explosion has taken place in the North 24 Parganas district. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

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On May 21, an explosion had occurred at an alleged illegal firework factory in Budge Budge in the same district. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

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Leader of Opposition Suvendhu Adhikari blamed the state government for the accident. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

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He said that even though the government made claims about regulating the firecracker industry after the May 16 accident, it has made no progress. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

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On May 16, nine people were killed in an explosion at a firework factory in the Khadikul village of Egra in East Medinipur. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

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“It seems that it was merely a publicity stunt to diffuse the tension & public outrage at that time," said a part of the post by Adhikari. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

Sources in the police said that Islam was an associate of Keramat Ali, who had rented the house for allegedly packaging firecrackers. Keramat Ali and his 21-year-old son Rabiul Ali were among those killed in the blast, police confirmed.

Police have registered an FIR against four persons – Keramat Ali, Rabiul Ali, Samsul Ali, and Ramzan Ali – under IPC sections of culpable homicide, attempt to cause culpable homicide, and also under the provisions of the Explosives Act.

While Samsul Ali owned the house and succumbed to injuries, Ramzan Ali is a local ISF leader. “Based on a complaint filed by a resident, an FIR has been registered, and one person has been arrested… Four persons have been named in the FIR. Among them, three – Keramat Ali, Rabiul Ali, and Samsul Ali – have died. We are looking for Ramzan Ali, who is a block-level leader of ISF. Primarily, we have found that the house of Ramzan Ali was used to lodge the labourers brought from outside to manufacture firecrackers,” Superintendent of Police (Barasat) Bhaskar Mukherjee said, adding police have found no political association of Samsul Ali, whose house was used to stockpile explosives.

While Safikul Islam was not named in the FIR, sources in the police said that his name came up during the preliminary probe.

Meanwhile, the in-charge of Duutapukur police station, Subhbrata Ghosh, and the officer-in-charge of the local Nilganj police outpost, Himadri Dogra, have been suspended for alleged dereliction of duty. While Ghosh has been replaced by Sujit Kumar Pati, Dogra has been replaced by Sanjay Biswas.

On allegations by residents that illegal firecracker manufacturing was going on in the area for a long time and police took no action despite being informed about it, SP Mukherjee said: “In the last two-and-a-half to three months, a lot of firecracker units were raided and seizures were made. Yet this incident happened, which is so unfortunate.”

“We are looking into possible lapses from the police side. Forensic teams visited the spot yesterday (Sunday) and even today,” said the SP, who visited the site on Monday.
ADG (South Bengal) Siddhi Nath Gupta, who also visited the blast site, said: “Primarily, it was low explosives like crackers that we usually use. But until we get forensic and lab reports nothing can be ascertained.”