Cracker blast keeps police on its toes

After spending the entire year probing dozens of hoax calls about bombs being planted at important establishments in Delhi, the city’s police force thought they had a serious task at hand when a blast triggered panic in old Delhi’s Naya Bazar in October.

However, within hours of the blast, the police appeared relieved when they learnt that the explosion was caused by crackers and was not a terrorist attack.

But the explosion took its toll. An aged labourer carrying the bag of crackers was killed and four others were injured. A dozen shops also suffered heavy damage.

Within minutes of the blast in the crowded locality, just days before Diwali, the police had cordoned off the site. The Delhi Police’s elite units were at the spot to pick any evidence that could lead them to the miscreants.

CCTV footage, which landed in the hands of the media first and subsequently went viral, suggested a massive blast. This added to the initial suspicion that it could be a terrorist attack.

But when the police began inspecting the site, they immediately found enough evidence to claim that the blast was a result of a cracker mishap caused by a tired labourer dumping a heavy bag of crackers on the ground.

What the incident did was bring into focus the casual and often illegal manner in which crackers are carried and traded in the Old Delhi area, particularly around Diwali season.

The incident prompted a police crackdown on such elements.