At least 10 people were killed and 13 severely injured in a massive blast that on Sunday occurred at an alleged fire-cracker factory at Dutta Pukur area off Barasat-Neelganj highway in the northern suburbs of Kolkata, police said.
The blast was so intense that it pulled down several houses including the double-story building where things were being manufactured, sources said adding blast brought down not only a 15-inch wall and pulled down concrete roofs but it also flung bodies and heavy chunks of concretes on to the nearby rooftops 10s of metres away.
The incident occurred barely a few months after similar blasts at Egra in East Midnapore and Maheshtala in South 24 Parganas prompting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to apologise with folded hands in a public meeting from where she gave out a “no repetition” statement to such incidents.
The owner of the factory Keramat Sheikh and his son Rabiul Sheikh, a college student also perished in the attack, locals said, alleging a strong Trinamool Congress link to the incident.
According to eye-witnesses a large number of drums apparently stuffed with explosives had been brought to the area in a truck on Saturday night. “They were arranging the drums when the explosion occurred,” Rafikul, a local, said, adding that many migrant labourers from Murshidabad were brought to the area by Keramat Sheikh the owner of the factory.
Notwithstanding claims made by the top police brass of an accidental blast in a “fire-cracker factory” materials chanced upon by the media persons let slip a different narrative.
What media men witnessed in the blast site was a lab stuffed with tables and test tubes of German make. Dozens of tiny paper bundles stuffed with stone-chips and gunpowder were also found in one of the several make-shift camps set up inside a wooded area pointing at something more than a mere fire-cracker factory.
As the media men wondered whether stone-chips and nails were used for used for general fire crackers, locals said “there is strong suspicion among us that they did something with RDX here … or else why will they use stone-chips, sharp-nails and other such things for a mere firecracker.”
The blast occurred on a highway lined with a number of private and Government universities and offices of multinational companies, sources said adding many more people could have died if it were not a Sunday.
While top police officials remained tight-lipped about the matter, locals complained of police inaction.
“We have given several mass petitions to the nearby police station but no action was taken … the owner was arrested a few months ago but was later released and started the same business … the police takes money and the people cannot say a word as the miscreants get the patronage of TMC leaders … even the local MLA (and State Food Minister) Rathin Ghosh has on several occasions been informed about this illegal factory,” a woman said wondering whether the Chief Minister would be able to return so many wasted lives.