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Ghaziabad factory fire kills eight; local cops, owner faulted for ‘illegal’ operation – india news

Seven women and a minor boy were charred to death while four others were injured in a major fire in a makeshift factory manufacturing party poppers at Bakharwa village in Modinagar town of Ghaziabad on Sunday evening. The officials of the fire department said a mass of hydrocarbons and manufactured items stocked at the complex somehow caught fire at around 4pm on Sunday.

The department officials, requesting anonymity, said the factory had no permission to operate and teams of forensic experts had been roped in to ascertain the exact cause of fire.

The district magistrate said there was laxity on the part of the local police post.

“The CM has taken cognisance of the incident and asked us to conduct an immediate inquiry. We have found laxity on the part of local police post in-charge as he was prima facie expected to have knowledge about the operation of the factory,” district magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey told reporters at Bakharwa village.

Modinagar fire tragedy claims 7 lives, CM Adityanath seeks report

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath had directed the district magistrate and senior superintendent of police to rush to the spot and submit a report by Sunday night. He also ordered compensation for the families of the deceased.

“The CM has directed for compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the family of the deceased persons. I have also directed for a magisterial inquiry. An FIR will also be lodged against the person who was operating the factory and he will be sent to jail,” added Ajay Shankar Pandey.

The villagers alleged that the factory was operated illegally by one Nitin Chuaudhary and his partner, Momeen, and the operations of the factory continued unabated despite a police raid conducted about a fortnight ago.

“There were no safety measures in place here and the factory didn’t have a licence. It was operating illegally. 25 to 30 women were employed here as workers and even children used to work here. There was a raid at the factory several days ago but it continued operations. The local police had information of the operation of the factory,” said Bupender Kumar, a villager.

Following the incident, Ghaziabad administration and police officials rushed to the spot.

Later, angry villagers blocked the way of ambulances called to ferry the injured and the dead and shouted slogans against the administration.

“Villagers were demanding strict action as the factory operated illegally. My aunt was working here for the past one year in order to support her family including four children. She was given a job for Rs 4,500 per month. She went for work at 8am and later we found she died in a fire. About 15 days ago, cops had raided the factory, but operations continued. The land belongs to a villager and the factory is operated by someone else,” said Sahil, nephew of a victim woman.

“After the fire started, many women got stuck in the factory and an earthmoving machine had to demolish the walls to pull them out. The factory owner was manufacturing party candles (poppers) here, while some work of packing the items was also given to villagers at their homes. The owner had also roped in boys aged 15 to 19 years for distribution of goods to nearby areas,” he added.

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Sanjay Kumar, another villager whose wife Geeta sustained severe burn injuries at the factory, said she had been working at the factory for the past one month and was paid Rs 200 per day.

“Since I do wall painting work, which was suspended during the lockdown, I sent her to work at the factory. Her hands and face suffered burn injuries in the fire. At present, she is the only one who is supporting the entire family including me and our three children,” he added.

Modinagar MLA Dr Manju Siwach also reached the spot. “The factory was manufacturing poppers which are used for birthday celebrations. The work was going on illegally and explosive chemicals which were also stored, caught fire,” she added.

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