Nagpur Explosives Factory Blast: Case Registered Against Unidentified Persons

Police have registered a case against unidentified persons in connection with the blast at an explosives manufacturing factory in Maharashtra’s Nagpur district which claimed nine lives, an official said on Monday.

Search teams have recovered a number of body parts from the site of the blast at the Solar Industries factory in Chakdoh area, they said.

Nine people were killed and three others seriously injured in the blast at the factory on Sunday. The bodies of the victims were blown to pieces due to the severe intensity of the explosion and the building collapsed, an official from Kondhali police station said.

He said search teams have so far recovered 52 body parts from the site of the incident.

A case has been registered against unidentified persons under Indian Penal Code sections 304 (a) (causing death by negligence) and 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance) on a complaint of Kondhali police station’s assistant police inspector Pankaj Waghode.

“The accused persons would be identified during the investigation,” the official said.

The explosion occurred when the workers were engaged in production and packaging of Trinitrotoluene (TNT) chemical, a potent yellow explosive material widely used in military applications.

“They were packing the TNT after filling it into a booster intended for coal mine detonation,” the official said. The bodies of nine workers, who were in the 6 am to 2 pm shift, were blown to pieces following the blast. The single-floor facility also collapsed and the body parts were trapped under the debris, he said.

The high-intensity explosion was even heard by locals some kilometres away from the site. After the incident, angry locals and relatives of workers had blocked the Amravati-Nagpur highway running along the site of the explosives manufacturing unit, demanding access to the premises so that they could see the bodies of their loved ones.

The police later tried to pacify them and the crowd was dispersed. To locate the bodies, the police used drones above the accident site and deployed a bomb detection and disposal squad along with a forensic team for evidence collection, an official said.

The factory falls under the jurisdiction of the Petroleum & Explosive Safety Organisation (PESO) and its officials were conducting an inquiry into the incident, the police said. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde reached the site on Sunday night and spoke to kin of the deceased. He took information about the incident from civic, police and company officials.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also visited the blast site and spoke to relatives of the deceased. He said the state government will provide compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the dead, while the amount from the company would be Rs 20 lakh each. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar also visited the spot on Sunday and said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had ordered an inquiry into the incident.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)