One person was killed and four others were critically injured after a powerful explosion took place in a firecracker factory located in the forest of village Gangoda Jat under Haldaur police station of Bijnor on Sunday noon.

On receiving information, fire-tenders rushed to the spot and controlled the fire.

The police sent the body for post-mortem and admitted the injured to a local hospital where they are being treated.

As per reports, Akbar Abbas, a resident of Nehtaur, has a firecracker factory in the jungle on the Jhalu-Gangoda road. According to the villagers, about five workers were making crackers in this factory on Sunday morning when suddenly there was a big explosion in the gunpowder used for making firecrackers and fire broke out. The workers working in the factory were burnt due to the explosion and the fire.

Amit Kumar, son of Kulveer of Gopalpur village in Kotwali area, died on the spot, while others were critically injured. The roof of the cement tin shed blew away due to the blast.

Hearing the explosion, people from the village and nearby areas rushed to the spot and somehow controlled the fire. On receiving information, fire-tenders also reached the spot and extinguished the fire.

The Haldaur police sent the body for post-mortem.

ASP (City) Sanjeev Bajpai disclosed that the factory has a licence to make firecrackers till 2028.

He said it is likely that the blast took place due to friction in the gunpowder during packing. The matter is being investigated, he added.

Meanwhile, in a suspected case of rape and murder in Agra, a 22-year-old unidentified girl was found murdered on Sunday in the mosque premises near the Taj Mahal East Gate.

People who reached the mosque for namaz at around 2:45 pm were shocked to see the half-naked body of the girl in the premises. The girl was wearing white salwar and a checkered shirt.

They suspected that the victim was raped and murdered and later her body was thrown in the mosque compound.

The assailants killed the girl by smashing her face with a heavy object, probably to conceal her identity.

After preliminary investigation, the local police claimed that circumstantial evidence suggested that the killer was an acquaintance of the girl. He brought her there, raped her and then killed her out of fear of getting caught.

The police are trying to trace the killer from the footage of CCTV cameras installed in the area.