Batala firecracker factory illegal, police say; victims' families demand action against officials

Tempers ran high at the government hospital here over the deadly blast at a firecracker factory, which the police Thursday said operated illegally.

Twenty-three people were killed and several others injured in the Wednesday afternoon explosion at the factory set amid homes and shops in Gurdaspur district's Batala.

"The factory was working illegally. I didn't come to know about it earlier. Otherwise it would have been closed down," Batala Senior Superintendent of Police Opinderjit Singh told the media.

"Now we are checking the licences of all factories in Batala city," he said.

At the civil hospital, some slogan-shouting relatives demanded action against senior officials for failing to shut down the factory despite repeated complaints from the residents of Guru Ram Das Colony on Jalandhar Road.

"What inquiry will the government conduct now? a protester said. A case of murder should be registered against the top officials for allowing the factory to run illegally."