MP: Indore resident arrested in Gujarat firecracker factory blast case

Indore, April 8 An Indore-based resident has been arrested in connection with the firecracker factory blast case, which occurred in Gujarat’s Banaskantha, claiming 22 lives, most of them from Madhya Pradesh, a senior police official said on Tuesday.

An official identified the arrested person as Harish Ramchandra Meghnani, who allegedly supplied labourers from Madhya Pradesh’s Harda and other districts.

He said that the arrest was made in collaboration with the Indore police.

“Gujarat Police had sought cooperation from Indore Police in search of Harish Ramchandra Meghnani, who was responsible for supplying manpower from Madhya Pradesh. During the operation, the accused person was arrested from a residential town in Rajendra Nagar in Indore,” a police official said while briefing the media persons.

He further said that it is an inter-state cooperation, and the Indore Police has assured that all possible help will be provided in the case, if needed in future.

“It was a tragic incident that killed around two dozen people, and most of the victims are from the citizens of Madhya Pradesh’s Harda district,” he added.

He said that when the police team (Gujarat and Indore police) raided his home, Meghnani was having breakfast, and he reacted as he wasn’t aware of the incident.

“After arrest, the accused person has been handed over to the Gujarat Police,” he said.

The blast occurred on April 1, in an illegal warehouse-cum-firecracker unit in the industrial area near Deesa in Gujarat.

The explosion was so powerful that it caused the building to collapse and sparked a fire, killing 22 workers, of whom 21 were from Madhya Pradesh and one from Gujarat.

Among the dead, 10 were from a single village in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh.

The factory was owned by Deepak Mohanani and his father, Khubchand Mohanani, both of whom were arrested earlier.

Police said that the preliminary investigation revealed that the blast was triggered by aluminium powder, a key ingredient in firecracker production.

An official said that a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team also found yellow dextrin powder, a pyrotechnic binder, at the site.

Following the tragedy, the Gujarat government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under IAS officer Bhavin Pandya to probe the incident.

Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh government announced Rs 2 lakh compensation to the families of the deceased.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited the grieving families and assured them of support.

“The education of at least one girl child from each affected family will be taken care of,” he said during his visit a couple of days ago.

Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari has also visited Harda to meet kin of the victims on Monday, and demanded that the state government should provide more compensation to the aggrieved families.

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