AHMEDABAD: The investigation into the Deesa firecracker factory blast, which claimed 21 lives, revealed how the accused father and son deliberately turned the unit into an imminent death chamber headed for a fatal explosion.
The accused, Khubchand Mohanani and his son Deepak, who had no licence to operate the fireworks godown, had “instructed workers to always keep the shutters closed to avoid scrutiny from the authorities”, leaving little chance of escaping a catastrophe, according to a survivor – Rajesh Nayak, a labourer from Madhya Pradesh.
A forensic examination confirmed that the presence of “aluminium powder”, one of the ingredients used to make firecrackers, caused the explosion, police said Wednesday. An FSL team also “found yellow dextrin powder in the warehouse”, Banaskantha SP Akshayraj Makwana said.
Police had arrested warehouse owner Khubchand Mohanani from Sabarkantha district Tuesday night, Makwana said. Deepak had been arrested earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, 18 victims will be cremated in their native villages in MP’s Harda and Dewas districts on Thursday. One boy’s body was never found – his severed head alone was counted among the dead.
