Firecrackers Factory Explodes at Home, 8 Die

Kolkata: Eight members, including four children of a family in South 24 Parganas of West Bengal, were charred to death in a devastating fire that broke out at their house following a huge explosion late on Monday night.

The explosion took place at the illegal firecrackers factory, which was being run at the house in Patharpratima. On Tuesday, the police detained one of the two brothers, who were running the business, for questioning.

The suspect, Chandrakanta Banik, was arrested by the police for the illegal trade a couple of years ago. He however resumed it with his brother Tushar after getting bail from the court. According to villagers, the duo had blessings of the police.

This time, Chandrakanta and Tushar have been booked under six criminal charges at Dholahat police station. They along with their mother were not at home when the explosion occurred around midnight.

The victims were Prabhabati Banik (80), the head of the family, her son Arabinda Banik (65), Santwana (28), wife of Chandrakanta and the couple's children Arnab (9) and Asmita (8 months).

The three other deceased were Anushka (6) and Ankit (6 months), the children of Tushar. Tushar’s wife, Rupa was fatally injured. She later succumbed to injuries at a hospital in the city. BJP has demanded an NIA probe into the tragedy.

Union minister of state and state party chief Sukanta Majumdar wrote to the union home minister to order the NIA to probe the incident. ADG (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar apparently blamed the accused for running the dangerous business at home, leading to the loss of lives.