Deadly, inhuman and 'protected' - Children forced to work illegally die in blast at factory with explosives stockpile

The clearing where the firecracker factory was located before the blast. Also seen
 in the picture are the remains of the vehicle in which crackers used to be ferried.
Picture by Samir Mondal 

Naresh Jana, Alamgir Hossain , TT, Pingla, May 7: An illegal fireworks factory that allegedly made bombs burst into flames in West Midnapore last night, igniting a chain of explosions for over an hour and killing several children who were apparently tricked into working there.

Twelve persons, most of them said to be aged between 10 and 17, were confirmed dead in the conflagration in Pingla, 120km from Calcutta, which flung body parts into trees.

Some of the dead were burnt or mangled beyond recognition. A police officer said preliminary information based on a missing-person list suggested that seven boys aged between 10 and 17 may have died.

Although it is illegal to employ children aged below 14 in hazardous units, some fireworks factories are known to prefer youngsters because thin fingers are prized when it comes to filling small cracker casings with explosives, which requires a degree of precision.

The children who died in the cracker unit had allegedly been brought over from Murshidabad with the promise of getting them jobs as masons' helpers - which in itself is a violation of the law.

Under the law, all forms of child labour is banned till the age of nine. Between ages 9 and 14, labour in certain categories is illegal. Both fireworks and construction are on the banned list.

"The place where the explosion took place was a firecracker-manufacturing unit," said inspector-general of police S.N. Gupta, who visited the explosion site at Brahmanbar village, about 50km from Midnapore town.

But several villagers said the factory also used to make bombs, the demand for which during elections to scare away genuine voters has spawned an incendiary cottage industry in Bengal. 

The impact of the deadly cocktail of lack of jobs and abundance of arms made itself evident closer to Calcutta in the evening when two men were killed in a drive-by shooting on a bustling road in Madhyamgram, 20km from the city. At least 11 empty cartridges were found in the suspected vendetta killings blamed on land-fill gangs. 

At the Pingla village where the fireworks unit blew up, Gita Dutta, a homemaker, said: "Apart from crackers, the factory also made bombs which they supplied to various places in a van. We have seen 25 to 30 people, including about a dozen children, working in the factory. We used to ask the children what work they did at the factory. They told us that they made crackers as well bombs.

"We had repeatedly told the police about the manufacture of bombs but they did not pay any heed. When we protested, the factory owner told us that he had the backing of the police. We have often seen policemen going to the factory."

Another villager said they had alerted the police to the illegal factory at least four times and submitted written complaints to the OC. Contacted, Pingla OC Pankaj Mistri said: "I will not make any comment until I have gone through all the records."

The police said the factory had 10 quintals or 1,000kg of explosives. IG Gupta cited the marriage season (crackers are burst during some weddings) as the reason behind the stockpile, adding that in the absence of shrapnel there was no indication bombs were made there.

However, during the recently concluded civic polls, several of the bombs hurled did not contain shrapnel - the principal objective appeared to be to create maximum fear and minimum casualties.

A burnt pick-up - the van cited by Gita - was seen at the site of the explosion. Sources said it belonged to Ranjan Maity, the factory shed owner who had rented it out to Ram Maity to run the firecracker factory.

Ranjan was arrested from a bus stop at Jalchakbazar, about 15km from the blast site, while he was trying to escape.

Among the dead are Ram Maity, 45, and his wife Rina, 40, and 10 others who worked in the factory. Nandadulal Hembram, a villager, said that Ram had earlier run a firecracker factory in Chunchhara village, about 6km away, but was forced to leave after an explosion there in 2013.

Although Ranjan, a farmer, was described as the landlord, his alleged activities suggested he had an active role in running the plant.

According to the villagers, all the children were brought in from Suti in Murshidabad, with Ranjan telling their parents that they would work as helpers to masons in Pingla.

At Natun Chandra village in Suti, Sheikh Dilshad, father of a boy who had gone to work in Pingla, said: "Ranjan Maity had come to the village several times. He used to tell us that there was shortage of helpers for masons in West Midnapore. The boys can learn the work of a mason in six months and can earn more money. This is why we sent our children to Pingla with Ranjan."

The villagers claimed that Ranjan was a Trinamul Congress leader. Asked, Trinamul district committee member Ajit Maity said: "Ranjan was a Trinamul worker a long time ago. But now he is not part of our party."

Advaita Pradhan, 30, a labourer whose home is 30 feet from the factory shed, said the first explosion took place around 9.45pm on Wednesday. "My asbestos roof collapsed under the impact," said Advaita.

"It was around 11pm that the crackers stopped bursting. In the light of the fire, we saw badly burnt body parts strewn around the place. Limbs and entrails were stuck in the tree branches."

Another villager, Netai Pradhan, said a mangled and twisted ceiling fan flew 100 metres from the factory and landed at his doorstep.

The police ran into protests last night for not responding to the complaints and nearly 100 jawans of the Rapid Action Force had to be summoned to disperse the crowd.