Midnapore/ Balasore: The death toll in the fire-cracker factory explosion in Egra in West Bengal’s Midnapore district rose to 12 on Wednesday with two more persons succumbing to their injuries. At least 20 other people were critically injured in the explosion.
The blast occurred at Khadikul, a village located barely 3km from the Odisha border.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced a Rs 2.5 lakh ex-gratia to the next of kin of all the deceased.
An earlier report said that the police suspect that the owner of the illegal fire-cracker factory, Krishnapada Bag, might have escaped to adjacent Odisha, the officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal police have contacted their counterparts in Odisha, alerting them about the absconding suspect.
Meanwhile, Banerjee said she had no objection to a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the explosion. The BJP and the CPM have been demanding an NIA probe.
Mamata’s statement was a noticeable deviation from her usual stand on central agencies. Sources attributed it to her knowledge of the “zero involvement” of the Trinamul Congress in the incident and the “substantial culpability” of the BJP that dominates numerous pockets of the district -– the backyard of the leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.
