Nine workers were killed and several others injured in a massive blast at a firecracker unit at Egra in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district on May 16.
The blast occurred around 11 a.m. at Khadikul village under the Egra police station. The house where the firecrackers were being manufactured was reduced to rubble.
Locals attacked the police who reached the site after the explosion and also stopped Trinamool Congress leaders from visiting the spot.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said it was an illegal unit and announced ex gratia to the family of the deceased. State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Sukanta Majumdar alleged that the explosion occurred inside ”the factory of a Trinamool Congress leader where bombs were being made”.
Pointing out that an investigation had been started by the West Bengal police Criminal Investigation Department, Ms. Banerjee said she was not against a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as demanded by the Opposition parties.
Accused arrested last year
Ms. Banerjee said senior police officers had been sent to the spot and action would be taken against the officer-in-charge of the Egra police station. The Chief Minister claimed that the man who was operating the illegal unit had been arrested by the police last year and a chargesheet was filed. She said the accused had fled to Odisha after the incident. The police identified the accused as Bhanu Bag.
K. Amarnath, Superintendent of Police, Purba Medinipur, said that so far nine bodies had been recovered. According to the police, the unit was raided only a few days ago.
BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said the incident raised serious questions about the law-and-order situation before the panchayat election in West Bengal. “Is Trinamool manufacturing bombs on a large scale to scare the people before the panchayat election?” he said. The BJP leader also wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding a “comprehensive investigation” into the blast.
The explosion at Egra is not an isolated incident. In December 2022, three persons were killed in an explosion at Bhupatinagar in the same district at a Trinamool Congress leader’s house. In December 2021, three persons, including two women, were killed in an explosion at Nodakhali in South 24 Parganas district. Incidents of recovery of crude bombs as well of explosion of crude bombs have also been reported on several occasions in the State.
