Kolkata: Eight people from a single family have died of injuries sustained during a blast at an illegal fireworks factory in Dholahat, Patharpratima, late on Monday. Almost the whole of the Banik family of Patharpratima, South 24 Parganas, has been wiped out in the tragedy: the eldest to perish was 80-year-old Prabhavati Banik; the youngest was Asmita Banik, barely six months old.
Till Monday, the toll from the tragedy was seven. Sutapa Banik, in her mid-30s, succumbed to her injuries in a Kolkata hospital on Tuesday.
Nearly all members of the Banik family were vehemently opposed to the illegal firecracker business; in a cruel twist of fate, two of the three survivors — brothers Chandranath and Tushar — actively ran the business for higher profits. Their elderly mother, Menaka, is the other survivor.
Supratim Sarkar ADG (South Bengal) said a case had been registered against Chandranath and Tushar. The duo was slapped with culpable homicide, attempted murder and multiple other sections of BNS, along with sections of the Explosives Act, but Chandranath was yet to be arrested, only detained for questioning. Tushar is on the run.
Chandranath is currently out on bail after his arrest in 2022 for possessing 68.5kg illegal firecrackers, said the ADG. The vegetable vendor, locals said, had got a taste of easy money seven years ago from cracker trade.
He got a trade licence from the panchayat and even a police licence, which the cops had even been renewing at period intervals. However, it wasn’t clear yet what the licences were for.
Patharpratima MLA Samir Jana said while the Baniks may have had a license to produce legal fireworks, they may have been conducting sales from their residence too, which was outright illegal. “The family manufactured fireworks near their home and stored and sold products at their house,” Jana said.
“We are trying to find out whether the operator had proper permissions, or whether only a trade licence,” ADG Sarkar said.
The Baniks’ neighbours said that while their business was over seven years old, it was only in the last three years that the operations expanded significantly. Despite repeated objections and complaints from locals and even their immediate family members, the Banik brothers continued with their illegal operation, they added. Menaka, who survived because she wasn’t at home, was never in favour of her sons’ firecracker business and had even tried to stop them many times. Her son-in-law, Nabakumar Baidya, also disapproved, as did their uncle and their families, who lived next door.
“All eight direct witnesses, who could have helped us find out why the fire broke out or the explosion occurred, are dead. Hence, we have to depend on forensic experts for their report,” Sarkar said. He added that experts would investigate the area, including the firecracker-manufacturing unit 100 metres from the blast site.
Investigators discovered that both fireworks and gas cylinders were stored in the house, complicating the matter. “Whether the fireworks exploded first and then the cylinder, or whether it was the gas cylinder that burst first is under investigation,” Sarkar explained.
Police found raw materials for firecrackers in an adjacent room and a nearby field. Residents alleged the family was also involved in producing illegal crackers despite having a proper licence.
Sarkar said severe negligence was to blame. “This was a callous act, where cylinders and explosives were stored together at a place where children and the elderly were living. This is a case of extreme negligence,” he said.
The cops said they would implement stricter measures regarding firework-manufacturing facilities. “From now on, the police will hold discussions with factory owners and fireworks traders to ensure that such factories are away from populated areas,” Sarkar said.