Anurag Kumar
Saturday, May 16, the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, visited Egra in East Midnapore district and apologized to the families of the ten people killed in an explosion at an illicit firecracker factory in Khadikul village on May 16.
“I apologize to the impacted families for this unfortunate incident. “Please let me know if I can assist you in any other way,” Banerjee said after distributing 2.5 lakh and a government job to each family as compensation.
Krishnapada Bag, the eleventh victim and factory proprietor, died in a private hospital in the neighboring state of Odisha just hours after his arrest. According to police, the explosion ripped apart the factory shed, and the corpses of the deceased, who were all employees, were completely charred and mutilated. Bag’s spouse and nephew have been detained.
On May 16, the chief minister, who is also in command of the home ministry, ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to conduct an investigation.
Banerjee admitted on Saturday that senior police officers had no intelligence input regarding the factory, while the officer-in-charge (OC) of the Egra police station ignored repeated complaints from Khadikul locals.
She stated, “I urge locals to maintain vigilance and notify the OC if anyone produces illegal fireworks.” If the OC fails to act, please inform me. He will be transferred. The OC who served in this location has been reassigned due to his failure to act on repeated complaints. The senior officers lacked intelligence inputs. If not, this would not have occurred.”
The villagers jeered the OC of the Egra police station, Mousam Chakraborty, when he arrived at the detonation site on May 16, alleging that he did nothing despite the fact that the same factory had experienced six explosions in recent years. They claimed that Krishnapada Bag was injured in one of these incidents.
“The deaths at the illegal fireworks factory have opened our eyes,” said the prime minister. We have formed a committee under the direction of the chief secretary. Numerous individuals are employed in illicit firecracker factories. I will prevent them from losing their livelihoods. The government will establish communities far from human settlements. These clusters are available to factory proprietors, but only for the production of environmentally friendly green crackers.”
“The production of fireworks is illegal. However, many succumb to avarice. This occurrence is eye-opening. I’m here to convey my sorrow and support for the affected families. We are providing each family with 2,500,000. Additionally, one family member will be recruited as home guardians,” she added.
Gaurango Maity, who lost his son and brother, remarked, “The ex-gratia amount is modest, but it will assist us for a while. It is the task itself that is crucial.”
The explosion sparked a political dispute in Bengal.
Sukanta Majumdar, the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claimed that the factory was producing powerful explosives to incite violence during the upcoming panchayat elections.
The BJP, which dominates the Khadikul gram panchayat, petitioned the high court of Calcutta for an investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The court ordered the CID to continue its investigation on May 18.
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Some individuals attempted to politicize the issue. Before departing Egra on Saturday afternoon, the prime minister stated, “I am not here today to engage in politics.”
The BJP attacked Banerjee after she met with the affected families.
Samik Bhattacharya, the party’s primary spokesman in Bengal, stated, “These strategies can no longer deceive the citizens of this state. Nobody exercises authority over the Trinamool Congress. We can only infer, based on what she said, that there will be more bomb-making units before the elections.”
