2 cops suspended for dereliction of duty; NIA visits site for 'routine inquiry'

Kolkata: Police have arrested one person in connection with the Duttapukur explosion case while the Officer in Charge (OC) of Nilganj Out-Post (OP), and the Inspector in Charge (IC) of Duttapukur police station were suspended for alleged dereliction of duty.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Monday, expressed her annoyance at the alleged inaction of police in cracking down on illegal firecracker factories.

She said: “It is the duty of the local police station to stop such illegal activities. We have set up an anti-corruption cell and keeping an eye on everything.”

On the basis of her instruction, the OC of Nilganj OP, Himadri Dogra, was initially closed in the Barasat Police Lines but later suspended.

After Dogra’s suspension, the IC of Duttapukur police station, Subhabrata Ghosh was also suspended. Local residents alleged that police used to receive bribes from these illegal factories.

Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), on Monday, visited the explosion site and conducted a routine inquiry.

Late on Sunday night, police arrested Shafiq Alam who was one of the stakeholders of the illegal cracker factory where the explosion happened on Sunday morning. He was produced at the Barasat court and taken into police custody for interrogation.

On Monday, the forensic team again visited the spot and collected samples. Police also seized a huge stockpile of illegal crackers from the area.

Experts claimed that the crackers were stored in sacks in an unsafe manner, leaving them vulnerable to explosion as a result of heat or friction. Police have registered a case, slapping charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and attempting to commit culpable homicide not amounting to murder, along with other charges under the IPC, Fire Services Act and Explosive Act.

Meanwhile, on Monday BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari filed a petition demanding a CBI and NIA joint probe into the incident.