Even as the Opposition alleged that bombs were being made at the illegal fire cracker factory in Pingla West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district, where 12 persons died in an explosion on Wednesday night, the State’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) claimed only firecrackers were made there.
“Small firecrackers were made in the factory,” Deputy Inspector General (Operations) of CID Dilip Adak told journalists at Pingla on Friday. He also said that stone chips were recovered from the blast site but no splinters were found there.
“Apart from this some aluminium powders were recovered from the spot,” Mr. Adak told journalists.
A case had been registered under several sections of the IPC and the Explosive Substances Act.
Meanwhile, among the 12 persons who died in the explosion, 11 had been identified. Forensic experts had collected samples.
On Thursday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered a CID probe into the case. While the factory owner Ranjan Maiti was arrested on Thursday, co-owner Ram Maity along with his wife and son died in the blast. The blast left mangled body parts on the trees near the factory. On Thursday Inspector General of Police, Western Zone, Siddh Nath Gupta said most of the workers belong to other States and crackers were being made there for the current wedding season.
Most of the persons who died in the explosion were reportedly child labourers.
