KOLKATA: The owner of the cracker factory in Maheshtala area where an explosion took place on Monday evening was arrested on Tuesday morning.
State Fire minister Sujit Bose, on Tuesday, visited the blast site and took stock of the situation. Later he assured the local people of a detailed investigation of the incident. Forensic experts may visit the spot for sample collection soon. The samples collected from the spot will be examined to ascertain the nature of the explosives.
On Monday evening around 6 pm, the explosion took place at the said cracker factory located at Putkhali Mondalpara in ward 30 of Maheshtala Municipality.
Three persons, identified as Lipika Hati (52) Shantanu Hati (22) and Alo Das (17), died on the spot.
Lipika was the wife of the cracker factory owner Bharat Hati and Shantanu was their son. Das was their neighbour. It is alleged that when media persons reached the spot, they were obstructed from collecting information. A large contingent of police force from Maheshtala and Budge Budge police stations along with the fire brigade reached the spot.
Since the explosion, Bharat has been absconding. He was picked up on Tuesday morning from a place nearby. Police suspect that there was no permission or licence given to Hati for running a cracker factory at his house.
A section of local people alleged that several residents in Mondalpara manufacture crackers which is dangerous.