Over 5,000 kg banned crackers seized days ahead of Kali Puja

Kolkata: Kolkata Police has seized more than five thousand kg banned crackers in the past seven days. Alarmingly, the seized amount has almost doubled compared to last year.

According to police, a special drive was conducted between October 14 and October 21 across the city. During the special drive, the Detective Department has seized banned fire crackers weighing around 1,600 kg. The rest of the quantity was seized by the local police stations.

The maximum quantity of such banned crackers has been seized from East Division and Port Division. Till Tuesday night, 10 persons have been arrested in this connection.

Sources informed that this year, banned cracker sellers and dealers have changed their style of carrying. Earlier they used to travel in goods carriers to hide the crackers in other goods. But this year, they are travelling in public transports so that in case of police checking, they can easily abandon the bags to evade arrest.

Apart from this, police have also made elaborate arrangements for Diwali and Kali Puja. On Tuesday, senior police officials informed that the number of patrolling vans has been increased as well. Also, 21 Quick Response Teams (QRTs) will be kept at the strategic points across the city. Apart from that, 13 Heavy Radio Flying Squads (HRFS) will be added for the day.

Police also mentioned that this year, all divisions have been asked to emphasise on the immersion processions. For the immersion arrangements, two police officials from the rank of Assistant Commissioner (AC) in each division have been instructed to supervise. Also at Nimtala Ghat, two police officials from the rank of Deputy Commissioner (DC) will be posted.