Blast while repair of Army vehicle AC: Siliguri Mayor orders probe

kolkata: The Army has filed a complaint against the incident of air-conditioner cylinder explosion that left four people, including an Army personnel, injured. The complaint was lodged at the Panitanki Police Outpost against Guddu Khan, the owner of the refilling shop. The Siliguri Municipal Corporation is also conducting a probe.

The shop where the gas was being filled had no license for running the business. They did not even have a trade license. As soon as Mayor Gautam Deb got to know about this, he gave instructions to the municipal authorities to start an investigation.Guddu Khan, the shop owner, has been absconding since the incident took place. Police have started a search for him.“We got to know that the businessman did not have a trade license. Legal action will be taken against him as per the municipal law. It is being investigated whether there are any such illegal stalls in other wards also,” said Deb.

On Wednesday, an explosion occurred in an Army vehicle while refilling the air conditioner cylinder of an Army vehicle. The incident occurred at Punjabi Para under ward number 13 in Siliguri. The police complaint was lodged by the Army on Wednesday night.

Gautam Deb, Ranjan Sarkar- Deputy Mayor and others had visited the spot immediately after the blast. The municipal authorities started an investigation to find out whether the business had a trade license and a valid fire license. Later, they found out that the shop did not have any of the licenses. Dilip Barman, Mayor-in-Council of the trade license department, Siliguri Municipal Corporation said: “Strict action is being taken against the businessman. It has been found that 60 per cent of licenses issued offline earlier are incorrect. For this reason, an investigation and survey has been started. This kind of illegal activity will not be tolerated.”