KOLKATA: Three persons died in an explosion that rocked Mohanpur locality of Satgachia in South 24 Parganas on Wednesday morning. The deceased were identified as Asim Mondal (54), his aunt Kakoli Middhe (52) and Atithi Hakder (48), an employee.
The powerful blast blew the roof off a house and flung the charred bodies of Asim and Middhe to several feet away outside the house. When locals reached the spot, they found Atithi in flames. They doused the fire, but she died by then.
The explosion happened at 8am on Wednesday. Cops said firecrackers were manufactured in the house and the blast had occurred when two big containers packed with the ingredients for firecrackers caught fire.
Satgachia MLA Mohan Naskar said, “The deceased were possibly engaged in manufacturing firecrackers.”
Diamond Harbour police district superintendent of police Avijit Banerjee said, “We are probing whether the fireworks unit had a valid licence or not. The area is dotted with several illegal units manufacturing firecrackers. We have raided such units earlier and the raids will continue.”
Karina Das, a Class-VIII student and a neighbour of Mondal, who was studying near a window, was hit by the glass pieces of the windowsill. Avik Middhe, who was returning home from tuition, was thrown to the side of the road by the impact of the explosion.
Local BJP leader Sufol Ghatu said, “The illegal firecracker unit was functioning under the nose of administration. It shows the lawlessness in the state.”
