State BJP demands NIA investigation; Guv visits spot, hospital
Barasat, Aug 27: At least eight people were killed and scores injured in a blast at an illegal firecrackers factory in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on Sunday morning, police said.
The explosion took place when people were working at the factory in Nilgunj’s Moshpole within Duttapukur police station limits, around 30km north of Kolkata, they said.
The blast’s impact was so intense that over 50 houses in the neighbourhood were partially damaged and body parts of people were found on terraces of several buildings, a senior police officer said, adding they suspect several people were still stuck under the rubble.
Police said the owner’s son, who was present in the unit, was also killed in the blast. “The matter is under investigation. Guilty will be punished. We are conducting rescue operations now,” the officer said.
Governor Dr CV Ananda Bose, who reached Duttapukur from Kolkata airport after returning to the city after a three-day trip to North Bengal, said he would evaluate the situation after paying a visit to the injured undergoing treatment at Barasat Medical College and Hospital.
A CID bomb squad, personnel of the disaster management department and a contingent of police are at the spot, police said and added locals ransacked the house of one of the owners of the factory following the blast.
Asked whether the factory was also manufacturing bombs under the veil of firecrackers, the officer said the matter should be probed.
Soon after Sunday’s blast, the TMC and BJP got involved in a war of words with the saffron party demanding a NIA probe while the Trinamool asked the BJP to stop doing “vulture politics.”
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the state was sitting on a powder keg. “There is no monitoring of illegal activities by police. These crackers’ units are patronised by local TMC leaders,” he alleged.
BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding a NIA probe into the matter. (PTI)