Illegal firecrackers factory busted, 3 truck explosive material seized in Gautam Buddh Nagar

A fire cracker factory operating illegally in Badalpur area of Gautam Buddh was busted Saturday following a raid, officials said.

Three-truck loads of firecrackers and explosive material was seized from the factory located in the fields outside a village, a senior official said.

"The illegal factory was set up in a godown in the fields outside Kudi Kheda village, under Badalpur police station limits. Three trucks filled with crackers and related material were impounded from the scene," City Magistrate Shailendra Mishra, who led the raid, said.

"The material seized is estimated worth Rs 50 lakh," Mishra said.

A case was being registered against three persons including the owners of the land Anil Sharma and Raju Pandit, he said.

None of the accused have been arrested so far, a police official said, adding the raid was carried out Saturday evening.

"The accused are being booked under relevant sections of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908," the official said.

District Magistrate Brajesh Narain Singh had earlier this week announced ban on the use of firecrackers during Christmas and New Year celebrations, in keeping with the Supreme Court guidelines of containing air pollution.

He had asked all departments concerned and the police to ensure the implementation of the ban, noting that "green firecrackers", which were exempted from the ban, were not available in the markets.

"We have not been informed of the reduced emission (improved crackers and green crackers) firecrackers by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), so it is clear to us that green firecrackers are not available in the district, Singh had stated in his letter to police station house officers (SHOs).