3 officials suspended in Batala factory blast case

Tribune News Service

Batala, November 18

The Gurdaspur administration has placed under suspension three lower-rung officials after holding an inquiry into the September 4 Batala firecracker factory blast in which 24 people had lost their lives and several others were injured.

The magisterial probe was conducted by Gurdaspur ADC (General) Tejinder Pal Singh Sandhu. He had submitted the report about a fortnight ago to Deputy Commissioner Vipul Ujwal. The DC, on his part, had forwarded the findings to the state government.

Ujwal is on leave and Sandhu is holding additional charge of DC. The suspended employees are Anil Kumar, superintendent, grade 2, and Mulk Raj and Gurinder Singh, junior assistants.

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who had visited the site a day after the tragedy, which took the lives of innocent people working in the factory and living in adjoining areas, had asked the ADC to conduct a probe.

Several houses, many located as far as 500 metres away, were ripped apart and several cars were tossed on to the Hansli drain which flows nearby.

Senior SAD leaders, including former Cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia, have termed the report as a mere eyewash. Majithia said, “Instead of dismissing senior officers, the administration has just suspended the employees which, in itself, is no punishment. I have learnt that they will be reinstated soon. We reject the report and demand that a probe should be held. The son of the factory owner was a Congressman and had even contested the 2015 municipal committee polls on the party ticket.”

The factory owner had a licence to store the crackers at a place 500 metres away from where he had actually stored it in a crowded area near the Hansli drain. The proprietor had also given an affidavit to the neighbours that he will not manufacture or store crackers at the place where the explosions occurred.