A massive blast ripped through a cracker factory at Egra in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district leaving at least nine persons dead and several others injured. The blast occurred at about 11am at Khadikul village under Egra police station and the house where the crackers were being manufactured has been reduced to rubble.
Villagers said the intensity of the explosion was so much that bodies and body parts were scattered all around the site of explosion including in nearby ponds. They said that at least 50 people used to work at the cracker factory. Locals also attacked the police who reached the site after the explosion and also did not allow Trinamool Congress leaders to visit the spot.
Purba Medinipur Superintendent of Police K. Amarnath said that so far nine bodies have been recovered. He said that the person accused of running the illegal cracker factory was identified as Bhanu Bag. The SP added that the deceased, including women, were labourers at the cracker factory. Local police sources said a raid had been conducted at the place only a few days ago.
The news set off a political firestorm with the Trinamool Congress and Opposition parties pointing fingers at each other. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the explosion occurred inside an illegal cracker factory and announced ex-gratia to the families of the deceased. Banerjee said that the State CID had started an investigation.
The chief minister pointed out that the panchayat area was under the control of the BJP and that the Trinamool has nothing to do with the illegal factory. “They did not allow people to go to the hospital. Is this the time to do politics? They did not allow police to retrieve the dead bodies. It is the district of their leaders. So they have a formula,” she said. “The actual culprits are instigating you. Let the police and the fire brigade do their job,” she appealed to the villagers.
The Chief Minister added that while she was not against an investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the incident as demanded by the Opposition parties, she insisted that the truth should come out.
Meanwhile, State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Sukanta Majumdar alleged that the explosion occurred inside the factory of a “TMC leader where bombs were being made”. Majumdar said that the incident raises serious questions about the law-and-order situation before the panchayat election in West Bengal. “Is TMC manufacturing bombs at large scale to scare the people before the Panchayat election?” Majumdar asked. The BJP leader also wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding “a comprehensive investigation” in the blast at Egra.
State Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said: “Bomb-making is the only industry that Mamata Banerjee has succeeded in bringing to West Bengal. God only knows when Bengal will get peace.”