Kolkata, 24 May: The state police have swung into action after 17 people were killed in bomb blasts in firecracker factories and houses in five places in the last eight days in West Bengal. Raids are underway against illegal firecracker businesses across the state, and more than 1.5 lakh kg of explosives have been seized in just four days, which is about to expose the deep network of illegal explosives aggregation in the state.
A state police source has said that 1 lakh, 14 thousand, 232 kg of firecrackers have been recovered during the search operation in various districts, while 27 thousand, 632 kg of gunpowder and other explosives have been seized.
Police sources have said that a raid and search operation started on May 27 and that this explosive has been recovered. 252 FIRs have been registered for the illegal collection and trading of these explosives, and 143 people have been arrested. The seizures are basically from four districts, which include East Medinipur, Birbhum, Malda, and South 24 Parganas.
It is worth mentioning that on Tuesday last week, there was an explosion in a firecracker factory in Egra, East Mednipur, in which 12 people died. Thereafter, three people were killed in a blast at Bajbuj in South 24 Parganas. The very next day, a bomb collected at the house of a Trinamool leader at Dubrajpur in Birbhum district exploded, blowing away the wall of the house.
After that, a day before, on Tuesday, there was an explosion in a firecracker godown in Malda’s Palika Bazar, in which two people died.
On the same day, in the evening, bombs stored at the Trinamool leader’s house at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas exploded, seriously injuring his wife. The working style of the state administration is also under question after one explosion after another in an illegal firecracker factory and the deaths of people.
