Odisha blast death: House owner had no firecracker licence
JAGATSINGHPUR: A day after a couple was killed after roof of their house collapsed due to a firecracker explosion at Jagatsinghpur’s Badabag village, local on Saturday alleged the incident occurred as gunpowder stored in their house caught fire.
The deceased was identified as 55-year-old Rajesh Das and his wife Ranu. Three of their family members also sustained critical injuries in the incident.
A forensic team and bomb squad reached the spot on Saturday to investigate the cause of the incident. They were, however, unable to initiate probe due to unsafe condition of the building and non-clearance of debris. An ODRAF team has been deployed to clear the debris, without which JCB machines cannot access the site.
Jagatsinghpur IIC Pravash Kumar Sahu said basing on the FIR lodged by the victim’s father Susil Das, police have registered an unnatural death case.
Das did not have a license for firecracker manufacturing. The cause of the explosion is yet to be ascertained as inquiries by the forensic team and bomb squad are pending due to delay in clearing of debris. Once the forensic report is obtained, we will begin the investigation and take action against those responsible for the explosion, he added.
Sources said Rajesh was allegedly making firecrackers at home when at around 10 pm on Friday, one of the firecrackers exploded, causing the roof of the house to collapse. Rajesh and four members of his family were trapped under the debris.
On being informed by villagers, police and fire service personnel rushed to the spot and retrieved the bodies of Rajesh and his wife. His brother Paresh was admitted to the district headquarters hospital in a critical condition. Susil was not present at home when the mishap took place. Villagers claimed Rajesh’s father and house owner Susil Das were allegedly involved in preparing firecrackers illegally.
Meanwhile, refuting the allegations, Das said none of his two sons, Rajesh and Paresh, were involved in firecracker manufacturing as one ran a two-wheeler garage and the other runs an electronics shop in Gandhi Chowk. He denied the presence of cooking gas cylinders in the house, ruling out gas cylinder blast as the cause of the explosion.