Elderly woman critically injured in illegal cracker unit explosion

Kendrapada: A 74-year-old woman was critically injured after crackers, illegally stored in her house at Ostarahat village under Marshaghai police station in Kendrapada district exploded on Thursday night. The impact of the explosion was so powerful that her six-roomed thatched house was completely burnt.It took the fire brigade three hours to douse the fire, said Tapan Nayak, inspector in charge of Marsaghai police station.Victim Bilasini Mallick, who was alone in the house at the time of the explosion, was first admitted to the Community Health Centre at Marsaghai. Subsequently, she was shifted to District Headquarters Hospital in Kendrapada as her condition became serious.Her son Gadadhar Mallick allegedly stocked crackers in the house, which he had turned into an illegal firecracker manufacturing unit. Explosive chemical substances have been recovered from the mishap site. The samples have been sent for testing. Police have lodged a case under Sections 3 and 5 of the Indian Explosive Substances Act and under the provisions of BNS. “We are investigating the case,” said the police officer, adding nobody has been arrested so far.Gadadhar, who was arrested last year on charges of illegally running a cracker unit in his house, was not present at the time of the explosion.After this mishap, many illegal cracker-makers of the village and its nearby areas managed to flee.