An FIR has been registered against the factory owner and the operator after at least 13 workers died and 21 were injured in an explosion there, police said on June 5.
The explosion had taken place at Ruhi Industries in Dhaulana area, Uttar Pradesh, on June 4. Inspector General of Police Praveen Kumar said that the factory had the licence to manufacture only electronic goods and an investigation is underway to ascertain how explosives reached there.
"So far, 13 people have been killed, while 20 are injured. The injured are undergoing treatment in various hospitals in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad and Meerut," Superintendent of Police Deepak Bhuker said.
He added that 11 out of the 13 deceased have been identified and they are from Bahraich (Uttar Pradesh) and Bihar.
“Factories in the area are being checked, and soon, the reality of the incident will come to the fore and strict action will be taken against the accused.”District Magistrate Medha Roopam
Inspector General of Police Praveen Kumar said that the factory had the licence to manufacture only electronic goods and an investigation is underway to ascertain how explosives reached there.
Police said they suspect that crackers were being manufactured in the factory.
According to Superintendent, the factory owner Dilshad and operator Wasim have been booked under IPC Sections 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance), 287 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery), 304 (culpable homicide), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 337 (act endangering human lives) and 338 (causing grievous hurt).
Three teams have been constituted to arrest the accused, he said. The victims’ bodies have been sent for post-mortem, the SP said. District Magistrate Medha Roopam said an investigation is underway.
“Factories in the area are being checked, and soon, the reality of the incident will come to the fore and strict action will be taken against the accused,” she said. At the time of the incident, there were around 30 people at the factory in UPSIDC Industrial Area in Dholana, around 80 km from the National Capital, officials said.
The impact of the explosion was so intense that the roofs of some of the factories located in the vicinity were damaged. It took three hours for fire tenders to douse the blaze.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had expressed grief over the loss of lives.
