Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister on Wednesday said that the owner of the fire cracker factory had a license.

Notably, a blast at firecracker factory at PatharPratima in south 24 Parganas on Monday evening claimed eight lives of the same family.

“The blast that took place in Gujarat was an illegal firecracker factory. Here the owner had a license. People should not keep inflammable things near firecrackers. I know some people do such a blast purposely to claim money from insurance. This is common at this part of the year,” said Mamata.

Meanwhile, the police confirmed that the owner of the firecracker factory Chandrakanta Banik was arrested on Wednesday.

Incidentally, 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.

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.