Explosion in WB during disposal of illegal firecrackers

A massive explosion took place during the disposal of illegal firecrackers seized by police in Naihati of West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district near the bank of Ganga River on Thursday. The impact of the explosion was so severe that it even shattered windowpanes of houses at Chinsurah in Hooghly district, located on the other side of the bank.

A huge mushroom cloud was spotted after the deafening explosion. Several houses in nearby areas developed cracks on their walls. The seized illegal firecrackers were being defused by the bomb disposal squad. Soon after the blast angry locals set two police vehicles on fires and staged road blockades in the area

“Two personnel of the Naihati Police Station were injured as they were assaulted by the locals. Some members of the bomb disposal squad were also manhandled by the crowd,” said a senior district police official. He also said that the firecrackers were mostly seized from the illegal firecracker factories in Naihati.

The incident comes days after four persons died in an explosion at an illegal firecracker factory in the area.

“The bomb disposal squad was defusing the illegal firecrackers. We will look into how such a large explosion took place,” said Manoj Verma, Commissioner of the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate.

"Don’t make the mistake of calling that firecrackers. The blast took place due to explosives. There should be an NIA probe into the incident” said local BJP MP Locket Chatterjee.