Forensic experts visit Nadia cracker factory

Kolkata: A team of state forensic experts on Monday visited the fire crackers factory in Nadia and collected samples from there.

The district police seized a huge amount of fire crackers from the factory, where an explosion took place on Sunday. Two persons, including a woman, were killed in the incident. The police and fire department have already found some serious lapses in the factory's fire security.

According to a senior police officer in the district, stern action will be taken against the owners of the factory, which had been operating without a fire clearance. Some local people staged a protest demonstration in front of the police officers on Monday.

Preliminary investigation suggests that an electrical short circuit might have led to the incident. The extent of the damage has not been ascertained yet.

The local residents alleged that the fire crackers factory had been operating illegally in a congested area of Gangnapur in Nadia for a long time, but the district administration did not take any step against the illegal crackers factory. Police and fire officials came to know during investigation that the fire crackers factory did not have adequate fire fighting mechanism in place.

The forensic team will be sending the collected samples to the laboratory, to ascertain the actual cause of the fire.

Two persons ~ Rinku Mondal and Ranjit Biswas, died in a nearby hospital after they sustained serious burn injuries in the mishap. As many as 10 others were injured when the explosion took place. Some of the injured persons were stated to be in serious condition.