Tripura Police along with the West Tripura district administration, based on specific information, conducted raid on Wednesday evening in the heart of Agartala and busted a warehouse stocking several cartoons of illegal firecrackers and hundreds of bottles of suspected adulterated liquors.
It has been suspected that the huge quantity of illegal firecrackers and foreign liquor bottles were stored for selling at higher prices during the Holi festival and vote counting day of the just-concluded Tripura Assembly polls as during this period the State declared a ban on both.
“In the evening I along with the Superintendent of Police (SP), West and the Commissioner, Agartala Municipal Commission (AMC) and other police personnel on the secret information that huge quantity of fire crackers, explosives were being stored in a godown in Surjaroad carried out a raid and found 40 MT to 50 MT of fire crackers illegally stored there without licence,” said District Magistrate (DM) of West Tripura district, Dr Milind Ramtek.
The bulk firecrackers were so huge that had there been any untoward incident within 200 metre periphery around that area it could have claimed several deaths, as the warehouse is located inside a highly-populated residential area.
Ramtek added, “Police have registered an FIR under Explosive Act and they will take necessary action and make arrest for illegal storage of the crackers which will have to be shifted to a safe location so that no untoward incidence takes place. The amount is so huge that had there been any untoward incident or any short circuit in and around that area in a periphery of 200 meters, there would have been many deaths. It would have been huge tragedy but now it has been prevented. We will shift it and the rest action will be carried out by the police.”
The SP of West Tripura district, Abhijit Saptarshi said that keeping in view of the Holi festival and the election counting process, the police administration would continue its operation against contraband and illegal storage of explosives for the next few days so that the State remains peaceful and incident-free.