The Crime Branch will investigate the blast that occurred at an abandoned quarry at Vazhakode near Wadakkanchery on Monday night.
A special team has been formed for the investigation. Crime Branch ACP P. Sasikumar will lead the five-member team. “Confusion prevails on how explosive materials reached the defunct quarry. A huge pit was formed at the site of the explosion. All such details will be investigated,” DIG A. Akabar, who visited the site on Tuesday, said. District Police Chief (Thrissur city) R. Adithya also visited the quarry. Bomb squad and forensic experts examined the site. The District Collector has sought a report from the police.
Meanwhile, the condition of one of the five injured remains critical. The critically injured is Alikunju of Vazhakode.
The explosion, which killed one person and injured five, took place at 8 p.m. on Monday. The deceased was Abdul Noushad, brother of former panchayat president Abdul Salam who owns the quarry.
Though the quarry was closed following the order of the Sub Collector a few years ago, it started functioning later. However, the quarry has not been functioning for the past one-and-a-half years. It is still not clear how the blast occurred in a defunct quarry.
Reverberations of the blast were felt even kilometres around the area. Many houses nearby suffered minor damage in the blast. People in the area, who thought it was a tremor, ran out of their houses.
According to the quarry owner, unused detonators for granite explosions had been buried in the quarry. They must have gone off accidently. Fish farming had been done in the pond in the abandoned quarry.
According to the Wadakkanchery police, the blast occurred in an open area inside the quarry. There was a small pond-like area near the site of the blast. A fishing net was recovered from the blast site.
