Shattered buildings, bloodstained clothes at Bengal crackers unit blast site

Amid debris of collapsed concrete structures and pieces of burnt and bloodstained clothes, one could easily mistake Mochpole in Duttapukur in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district as a battlefield.

As one approaches through the congested narrow lanes of Duttapukur leading to Mochpole, smell of gunpowder and burnt flesh still hangs around the blast site.

At the spot, stands the shattered house where the illegal firecrackers factory was operational, surrounded by scores of devastated thatched-roofed houses, signifying the impact of the blast.

Arifa Bibi, the immediate neighbour of Samsul Ali, the owner of the illegal crackers unit, thanked the Almighty for keeping her family alive.

'My father-in-law and husband are masons. They both had gone out for work in the morning. My mother-in-law and my three-month-old daughter were at home. I was on the terrace when the explosion took place and I fell. I somehow managed to gather myself and rushed downstairs and picked up my baby and my mother-in-law rushed out,' Arifa told PTI.

According to the 24-year-old woman, she and her family moved in the house around six months ago.

'This is a new house we built around six months ago. A wall collapsed and the grills have been damaged. I do not know how we will be able to rebuild,' Arifa said.

Talking about Samsul Ali and his activities, Kamal, Arif's father-in-law, alleged that the former had 'solid support' from the ruling Trinamool Congress.

'That is the reason even police remained inactive against him despite several complaints. Samsul had taken this house on rent and started this illegal business here a few months ago. He had good backing from local MLA Rathin Ghosh,' Kamal alleged.

Samsul, who suffered severe burns, succumbed to injuries in Barasat Medical College and Hospital. His son was also killed in the explosion.

Twenty-four-year-old Tapan Sheikh, who lives in adjacent Paschimpara, alleged that the illegal firecrackers unit was closed for a couple of months after the Egra and Maheshtala blasts, but became active only a month ago.

Asked why locals were working in the illegal unit, Sheikh said lack of employment opportunities and 'good pay' attracted them to work there.

'What else could people do? We have no work here. But people were getting good pay working here and so they preferred staying. There are several people from other districts working here,' Tapan said.

A senior police officer of Barasat Police District denied allegations of not paying heed to complaints of locals about the illegal firecracker units operational in the area.

'This is incorrect. We need to find out how this person ran this illegal firecrackers unit and who were supplying raw materials,' he said.

Mochpole is inhabited mainly by people of the minority community mostly involved in construction works.

Incidentally, Barasat including Duttapukur, Nilganj and its surrounding areas are quite well-known as a firecrackers manufacturing hub.

'We have seen since our childhood that firecrackers are being supplied to different parts of the country for different occasions, but this was unthinkable,' Rafiq Islam, another resident of Duttapukur, said.

Sunday's blast at the illegal factory killed nine people and damaged several houses in the area, he added.