Kolkata: ADG South Bengal Supratim Sarkar on Tuesday said that ‘lack of public awareness’ over the blast at a firecracker factory in Dolahat in Patharpratima area in south 24 parganas on Monday late evening claiming eight lives including two infants.

“The probe is going on and the forensic team has reached the spot to collect samples from the explosion site. The owners of the factory Chandrakanta Banik and Tushar Banik are absconding. We are trying to find out whether they had proper permits to run a firecracker factory. We have filed cases under relevant sections,” said Sarkar.

The ADG South Bengal also mentioned that the police will soon hold a meeting with firecracker making organizations and will ask them not to pile up crackers at residential areas.

“More public awareness is needed as inflammable things should not be kept near such factories. We have heard that the person who was shifted to SSKM hospital had also succumbed to her injuries rising the death toll to eight,” added Sarkar.

However, local claims that ‘illegal bombs’ were also made in the firecracker factory.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president and MoS Sukanta Majumdar said that he would write to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding an NIA probe into this incident.

“With the blessings of ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) entire South 24 parganas are sitting on a pile of gunpowder due to such innumerate illegal bomb making factories,” said Majumdar.

TMC MLA from Pathar Pratima, Samir Kumar Jana, said the Banik family had an authorized firecracker manufacturing unit a few meters away from the house.

It can be recalled that February 12, 2025, four people died due to an explosion in a firecracker factory at Kalyani in Nadia district. At Midnapore’s Egra in May 2023 11 people died due to an explosion.