India News | Gujarat Cracker Warehouse Blast: Labour Contractor Held in MP
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Police on Monday arrested a labour contractor from Indore almost a week after a powerful blast at an illegal warehouse-cum-firecracker factory in Gujarat's Banaskantha district killed 22 persons, an official said.
Palanpur (Gujarat), Apr 7 (PTI) Police on Monday arrested a labour contractor from Indore almost a week after a powerful blast at an illegal warehouse-cum-firecracker factory in Gujarat's Banaskantha district killed 22 persons, an official said.
The accused, identified as Harish Meghwani, had supplied labourers from Madhya Pradesh to work at the illegal unit located in an industrial area near Deesa town.
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"We have arrested Harish Meghwani from Indore in connection with the firecracker factory blast. He was responsible for supplying manpower from Madhya Pradesh," said DySP CL Solanki.
Police had earlier arrested a father-son duo who owned the warehouse.
Two other labour contractors, Laxmi and Pankaj, were killed in the massive explosion and fire that flattened the factory on April 1.
While 21 persons died following the blast, another person succumbed to his injuries later, taking the death toll to 22. Officials said 21 out of the 22 victims hailed from Madhya Pradesh and one from Gujarat.
Responding to the incident, the state government set up an SIT under IAS officer Bhavin Pandya to investigate various aspects linked to the deadly explosion.
A preliminary probe by the district police pointed out that aluminium powder, an ingredient to make firecrackers, caused the explosion and blaze in the warehouse.
Besides aluminium powder, an FSL team also found yellow dextrin powder, a pyrotechnic binder, from the warehouse.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)