Fear kept kids in fireworks factory

Alamgir Hossain, TT, Suti (Murshidabad), May 8: Relatives of the children who died in the Pingla blast have said they had made several attempts to get the kids back after learning that they were not working as mason’s helpers, as promised by the employer, but were instead making crackers. 

The relatives said those who had gone to work for Ram Maity could not return after realising they were working for a fireworks factory as they were afraid of him.

An illegal fireworks factory that allegedly made bombs exploded in West Midnapore’s Pingla on Wednesday, killing 12 people including several children.

The elder brother of 11-year-old Nur Nabi Sheikh, a resident of Natun Chandra in Suti who died in Thursday night’s blast, said that on April 26, Maity had taken away eight children aged between 10 and 14, promising their parents that they would work as masons’ helpers in West Midnapore’s Pingla. 

Nur Nabi’s elder brother Amir Sheikh, 24, said he worked as a mason in Farakka. Their father died seven years ago. 

“We find it difficult to make ends meet. I was away at work when Ram Maity approached my mother. She agreed when Ram told her that he would pay my brother Rs 150 a day. Ram told my mother that he would take my son to Pingla as a helper to a mason. On April 26, he took my brother and seven others from the village to Pingla. Three days later, my brother called me up to say that he was being made to work in a fireworks-making factory,” Amir said. 

Amir said that he had called back his brother the next day and asked him to return home, but Nur Nabi said he could not as he was afraid of Ram, who was killed in the blast.    

“My brother told me he could not come back because Ram was an influential man and controlled many local goons. He said it would not be easy for him to leave the place. Ram had told my brother that he could go home only after two months to give money to the family,” Amir said.

Children are often used to make bombs as they have slender fingers, useful in wrapping explosives with jute fibre. 

Sharita Bibi, the elder sister of two youths who died in the blast made allegations similar to Amir.  

“Two youths from this village, Lalu Sheikh and Suraj Sheikh, had been working in the fireworks factory for almost two years. They came to the village with Ram last month and took away my brothers (Amir Sheikh and Shamim Sheikh, in their early twenties), saying they would work as helpers to masons. A few days later, Amir (not Nur Nabi’s brother) called us up and said they were working in a fireworks factory,” Sharita said. 

“Our father told them to come home but they said they were working in a big licenced fireworks factory. My father still did not want them to work there. But they told him they would not be released before two months,” she added. 

The police probe has revealed that the Pingla factory did not have a licence. 

Residents of Natun Chandra said the village had a tradition of fireworks manufacturing from the British era. Hissain Khalifa, who was a resident of the village, was famous for making firecrackers for festivals and celebrations during the British period. He passed on the expertise to his family members as well as villagers who helped him.

Hossain’s grandson Jerat Khalifa said: “This village was famous for fireworks-making. After Hossain and my father Hanif Khalifa’s death, our family members and a section of villagers maintained the tradition, but we operated without licence. However, because of police raids, all of us quit the business of making fireworks in 2009. We have now drifted to other professions, Many of us are masons, labourers, farmers or hawkers. But the expertise has been handed down through generations. So, many firecracker manufacturers from places such as Burdwan, West Midnapore, Hooghly and Howrah seek our help.”