Nearly 700 kg of banned firecrackers seized in Delhi, 1 held

New Delhi: Nearly 700 kg of banned firecrackers stored at a building disguised as an ice cream manufacturing unit in a residential area in southwest Delhi were seized and a man managing the stock was arrested, police said on Thursday.

Acting on a tip-off, police conducted a raid at the place on Wednesday and arrested Dilbagh Singh (52).

Police received information that a large stock of illegal firecrackers was being hoarded in Bindapur’s Matiala village ahead of Diwali later this month.

During the operation, 693 kg of firecrackers of 42 different brands were recovered from the ground floor of Singh's premises, which had been disguised as an ice cream manufacturing unit.

Police said the stock was stored in highly unsafe conditions in a densely populated area, posing a serious risk to public safety.

Singh admitted that he had stored the crackers to sell them during the festive season, in clear violation of norms.

He told investigators that he purchased the stock from roadside shops in Kurali, Punjab, where the sale of such firecrackers is not prohibited, they said.

A case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Explosives Act has been registered, police said, adding that further investigation is underway to trace the supply chain and identify other persons involved.