2 held for selling firecrackers

A father-son duo were arrested for allegedly storing and selling banned firecrackers in outer Delhi's Mangolpuri area, police said on Sunday.

Over 500 kg of banned firecrackers were seized from Pawan Kumar (55) and Vipin Kumar (32), residents of Mangolpuri, police said.

A special drive has been launched by the Delhi police to stop carrying, keeping or selling of banned firecrackers in view of directions issued by the National Green Tribunal.

On Friday night, police said they received information about selling and storage of banned firecrackers at "Balaji Firecrackers" in C-Block Mangolpuri.

A raid was conducted and the two were arrested, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) A Koan said.

A case was registered and 533 kg of banned firecrackers were seized, he said.

During interrogation, Pawan Kumar disclosed that he had permanent license of firecrackers and selling green crackers.

The suspect disclosed that he had stocked banned firecrackers, which could not be sold due to ban on fire crackers by the courts, he added.

He disclosed that as he had invested huge amount on those crackers, so he planned to sell banned firecrackers during the current festive season to recover his amount, the DCP said.

In another incident, two brothers were arrested for possessing illegal firecrackers and 60-kg banned crackers were recovered from them in Sultanpuri.

Sanjay Kumar (35) and Ajay Kumar (34) disclosed that the seized firecrackers were meant for sale on Diwali, police said.