Girl killed, 3 hurt in chemical explosion

Rachna Khaira

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 27

A teenaged girl was killed and three persons were injured in a blast on the rooftop of a shed of a house in the congested Riaz Nagar area in the Central Town here on Tuesday afternoon.

The shed was found to have stored a huge quantity of fire crackers illegally.

The deceased was identified as Radhika (16), a native of Nepal who, along with the three injured persons, Karan, Sunil (18) and Deepa (18), was working in the warehouse at the time of the incident. They were reportedly working for Gurdeep Singh who, according to the victims, allegedly made fire crackers at his home and used to sell these to cracker sellers in Burlton Park during Diwali.

While Sunil received maximum burn injuries up to 60 per cent, Deepa and Karan too received burn injuries up to 20 per cent. Sunil was referred to a private hospital for super-specialty treatment, while the other two are getting treated at the Civil Hospital.

Though the police are yet to identify the exact cause of the explosion, it seemed to have been caused due to the bursting of a chemical possibly potassium chloride, used in making fire crackers. The sudden explosion brought down the pillars of the temporary rooftop and seemed to have broken the wall, bringing it down on the four labourers working inside the shed during that time.

According to eyewitnesses, they heard a sudden explosion at around 3:45 pm. “My children were playing on the street. Suddenly, we heard a huge blast and I saw them running inside. They were shouting and crying and were visibly scared. It took almost an hour to calm them,” said Neelam, a neighbour.

Another neighbour Satya said though Gurdeep Singh and his family were staying in the area for the past many years, the neighbours were not aware about their work. “It was only after the blast today that we came to know that they were into this deadly business,” said Satya.

Speaking to The Tribune, Gurdeep Singh denied making fire crackers at home, but said he used to pack these up for traders selling these at Burlton Park during festive seasons.

At the explosion site

The police and the district administration officials reached the spot within few minutes of the explosion and started the rescue operations. The exact cause of the blast was yet to be established. SHO, Navi Baradari, Balbir Singh, who was amongst the first ones to reach the spot, said they were trying to pull out the bodies from the debris and rescue the injured. A large part of the structure was badly damaged in the blast. Half-burnt boxes of different types and brands of firecrackers were strewn all over the building.

Many political leaders, including senior BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia, visited the spot

Chemical explosion or wall-falling incident?

While all injured landed in the Civil Hospital with burn injuries, one of the victims Deepa got a portion of her ear lobule damaged in the explosion. According to Dr Satinder Bajaj, surgical specialist, Civil Hospital, it seemed to be a case of fire incident. “The victims only have superfluous skin abrasions and not deep wounds or fractures as in case of a wall falling on them. This has purely happened due to some chemical explosion as their clothes were burnt and they only have burn injuries on their bodies,” said Dr Bajaj.

Crucial evidence ignored!

When The Tribune team visited the victims, all of them were found wearing burnt clothes and their hands and feet were covered with a huge amount of chemical substance. Surprisingly, despite having the presence of an explosive chemical on their body, the police ignored the crucial evidence and did not take samples even after hours of the incident.

Even before the forensic team of the police could reach the hospital, some of the family members even wiped off the bodies of the victims and even changed their clothes. However, later, the police took their clothes and sent these for forensic examination.

What actually happened on the site?

A victim alleged that the owner Gurdeep Singh was in the business of making seasonal products like Holi colours, Rakhis and also fire crackers to sell during Diwali. “I have been working there from the past many years and used to make fire crackers on the rooftop of his house. My job is to fill the chemical in the fire crackers and to prepare these for use,” claimed an injured victim, alleging that the owner pays around Rs 4,500 to each of the worker.

What actually happened at the site?

“I was just working and suddenly there was some flash and a loud thunder and I found myself trapped under huge debris,” said the victim.

Police Commissioner Praveen Sinha confirmed that the labourers were indeed making fire crackers illegally at the site. “There is not even a single storage licence granted to anyone in the city. We have registered a case under Section 304 of the IPC amounting to culpable homicide against the accused Gurdeep Singh,” said Sinha.

Besides, the police have also registered a case under Sections 308, 337, 338 and 188 of the IPC and Section 3 and 5 of the Explosives Substances Act.

Despite serious offence, accused roaming free!

Despite serious Sections imposed in the FIR following the death of the teenaged girl and Police Commissioner Praveen Sinha visiting the spot himself, the accused too was present on the spot was not arrested.

When asked the reason for delay in the arrest, Sinha said investigation was on and only after getting substantial evidence, Gurdeep Singh would be arrested.

Tuesday’s incident has highlighted a crucial loophole in the procedure of granting temporary firecracker storage licenses by the police due to which a teenaged girl lost her life in the city. The Tribune spoke to Jalandhar Police Commissioner Praveen Sinha and brought out the major flaws of the licensing procedure. Though the police grant temporary licence to the traders to store fire crackers, they do not specify any stock limit or do stock checking after the expiry of the licence period!

How many permanent firecracker storage licences have been issued in the city?

None. Only one has been issued in rural area so far.

While granting temporary licence for firecracker storage, do you specify any quantity limit on purchase?

No. There is no such provision in the Explosives Act.

Do you specify that only branded or ISI mark fire crackers could be purchased under the licence and not any local or homemade brand?

The condition may be there, but I am not aware.

Does police do any stock checking after the expiry of the licence period?

There is no such provision in the Act. Ideally, the licensees should return the unsold fire crackers to the wholesellers after the expiry of the temporary licence period.

Around 100 traders had applied for the temporary licence last year to sell fire crackers ahead of the festive season, but due to last-minute directions by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, only 20 were granted licences. Till then, all traders had booked and purchased the festive stock months prior to the court directions.

Are police aware about the location of the unsold stock?

We do not maintain any such record, but will call all the licence holders tomorrow to know the details about their unsold stock.