With one more body recovered on Monday, the death toll in the blast at an illegal firecracker factory in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district rose to nine. According to officials, one person was arrested in connection with the blast.
Officials said that the body was recovered without the head from a pond nearby the incident spot.
The person arrested is suspected to be the partner of the owner, who runs the factory. The man has been booked under Explosives Act 1884 and Explosives Rules 2008, said an official.
A suo moto case was also taken against three others connected with the blast as well.
"The search operations continued the entire night. However, the lack of power in the area and the huge amount of debris scattered made it tough for us to conduct the searches and our investigation. We have arrested one person who was the business partner of the man running the unit," the senior police officer of Barasat Police District told PTI.
It was around 8:30 am on Sunday the blast occurred in North 24 Parganas district. Several people were working in the factor when the blast occurred.
Over 50 houses nearby the factory was partially damaged due to the blast’s impact. Body parts of people were also recovered by the police from the nearby places.
According to police, the owner and his son was killed in the blast.
Meanwhile, those injured in the blast are undergoing treatment at the Barasat Medical College and Hospital. Reportedly, the condition of one person remained “very critical”, while others are recovering.
However, the locals in the area complained that the police took no action to the complaints raised by the people regarding the illegal unit.
"Now, when so many lives have been lost, what will the police do in arresting people? They should have taken necessary actions when we had complained to them," Ratan Hasan Ali, a local was quoted by PTI.
Earlier, in a similar explosion, 12 people lost their lives in Purba Medinipur district's Egra.
