Kolkata, Oct 29 (IANS) The Kolkata Police have seized around 110 kg of banned firecrackers from an abandoned building in north Kolkata and arrested a 19-year-old youth ahead of Kali Puja, a senior police officer said on Thursday.
Acting on a tip-off from secret sources, a team from Burrabazar police station raided the building at 1 NS Road in the early hours of Thursday and recovered the illegal fireworks.
The arrested youth has been identified as Mohammad Taufiq, 19. The police have registered a suo motu case against him for allegedly storing firecrackers without the required licence or permit.
Additional Commissioner of Kolkata Police’s Detective Department, Kunal Agarwal, said the police were making continuous efforts to prevent the entry of illegal firecrackers into the city.
According to the police, a team led by sub-inspector Uttam Kumar Halder was conducting patrol and search operations in the NS Road area at around 1.45 am when it searched the abandoned building.
The officers found approximately 110 kg of banned fireworks packed in four large cardboard boxes. The entire consignment was seized, and Taufiq was arrested on the spot before being taken to Burrabazar police station.
Preliminary investigations suggest the firecrackers had been stored in the building without any government licence or permit. Their presence in the densely populated commercial locality raised concerns over the risk of a possible accident, police said.
A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.
Investigators are now trying to establish the source of the seized firecrackers and determine whether other people were involved in their storage and distribution.
The police are also examining whether the consignment was linked to a larger illegal fireworks network operating in the city.
With Kali Puja approaching, the Kolkata Police are expected to intensify checks and raids to curb the storage and sale of prohibited firecrackers and prevent safety hazards during the festive season.
–IANS
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