AHMEDABAD, Apr 2: The Gujarat government has formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the warehouse explosion that killed 21 persons the previous day, while forensic examination found a small container of aluminium powder, one of the ingredients to make firecrackers, at the spot, officials said.
The SIT, headed by IAS officer Bhavin Pandya, will submit its report to the state government in 15 days after probing various aspects, stated a notification issued by the state home department Wednesday.
Pandya serves as a Secretary (Land Reforms) in the Revenue Department.
Three other members of the SIT include Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Vishalkumar Vaghela, Director of Forensic Science Laboratory, HP Sanghavi, and Chief Engineer of the Road and Building Department, JA Gandhi.
The notification stated that the SIT would probe various aspects such as the exact cause of the explosion, whether the warehouse owner had permission to manufacture firecrackers and provisions of labour laws, The Factories Act and The Explosives Act were followed. It will also confirm whether an inspection was conducted by officials and nail the responsibility for negligence that led to the tragedy.
Police said that forensic investigation detected traces of aluminium powder, one of the ingredients to make firecrackers, at the spot which apparently caused the explosion and blaze which ripped through the warehouse near Deesa town on Tuesday.
Apart from aluminium powder, a team from the forensic science laboratory (FSL) also found yellow dextrin powder from the warehouse where firecrackers were stored, Banaskantha district Superintendent of Police Akshayraj Makwana told reporters earlier in the day.
Though the SP admitted that both substances are used for making firecrackers, he told reporters that a detailed investigation was underway to find out whether firecrackers were manufactured in the godown.
Gujarat Health Minister and government spokesperson Rushikesh Patel told reporters in Gandhinagar that the warehouse owner brought the raw material to the premises after March 12, when police conducted an inspection as well as videography of the godown and gave negative feedback (for renewing its license).
“The owner had a license to use the godown for storing firecrackers till December 31. There was no question of giving him a licence to make firecrackers there. When he applied for renewal, police inspected the premises on March 12 and gave a negative report to the local administration, following which the license was not renewed,” Patel told reporters.
After that inspection, the accused brought the raw material and stored it in the godown illegally, said the minister.
“During the last 15 to 17 days, the owner brought aluminium powder and yellow dextrin into the godown without the knowledge of authorities,” he said.
According to Patel, the accused prima facie used this material to make firecrackers. “Forensic experts are conducting a detailed investigation in that direction,” he added.
The godown, where the explosion took place around 9.45 am on Tuesday, is located in an industrial area near Deesa town, around 30 km from the Banaskantha district headquarters.
The blast was so powerful that it sent body parts of workers flying 200-300 metres away. Family members of some of the workers who stayed on the premises were crushed to death after heavy chunks of the RCC roof slab fell on them, officials said.
Police on Tuesday night arrested warehouse owners Deepak Mohnani and his father Khubchand Mohnani from neighbouring Sabarkantha district and registered an FIR in Deesa.
Both of them were booked on the charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and under relevant sections of the Explosives Act and the Explosive Substances Act, police had said.
During the investigation, police found that Deepak Mohnani was held nearly three years ago for his alleged involvement in a cricket betting racket, police said.
Apart from a five-member team formed by Range IG Chirag Koradia to probe the incident, seven other teams have been set up to investigate other aspects, such as bank transactions of the accused and analysing call detail records, police added. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
