West Bengal: First arrest made in Duttapukur illegal firecracker factory blast case

North 24 Parganas (West Bengal) [India]: In a breakthrough in the ongoing probe into the blast in an illegal firecracker factory on Sunday, which left 8 persons dead and several others injured at Duttapukur in the North 24 Parganas district, the local police made its first in the case on Monday, sources informed.

The arrested person was identified as Safikul Islam.

The Barasat Fire Station put the official toll in the blast at 8. “With one more body recovered from the wreckage of the factory, the toll in the cracker factory blast is now at 8,” Prashanta Ghosh, an official at Barasat Fire Station, told media on Monday.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose visited the blast site in Duttapukur after the incident on Sunday.

Coming down heavily on the West Bengal government after the incident on Sunday, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the incidents reflect the failure of the state administration.

“The amount of explosive materials (found at the scene of the blast) is proof that the Bengal government has allowed traders to run such illegal units wherever they want, even at the cost of lives. Traders, who deal in explosives, are being given complete freedom to run such units. This has resulted in such incidents,” the Congress leader said.

“The incident shows the abject failure of the state machinery and the law enforcement authorities. We only come to know of such factories when blasts happen and innocent lives are lost.

After a cursory response from the administration and the police, everything goes quiet, and the illegal units return to business. It is the common man, who is made to pay the ultimate price for such illegal and nefarious activities,” he added.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said that the entire state of West Bengal is sitting on a powder keg. “This is not an isolated incident. The entire state is sitting on a powder keg. The chief minister had promised to close these illegal cracker-manufacturing factories, but she is busy protecting the thieves in her government and hosting the Imams instead. She is holding meetings with Muslim preachers,” he said.