Kanpur market blast: Police seize illegal firecrackers, six arrested

Illegal firecrackers worth more than 100 quintals Police on Friday, October 10, said Rs 50 lakh has been seized and six people arrested after eight people were injured in an explosion caused by illegal storage of firecrackers at a market here.

A massive crackdown on illegal firecrackers has been launched across the city after a massive explosion in the crowded Mishri Bazaar area here on Wednesday left eight people injured and two scooters damaged.

Police said the blast was caused by illegal firecracker storage, and denied any link to terrorist activity.

“After receiving information about large-scale storage of fireworks in densely populated areas, we conducted simultaneous raids in several areas including Moolganj, Fazalganj, Govind Nagar and Naubasta,” Police Commissioner (Kanpur) Raghubir Lal told PTI on Friday.

“After the Moolganj blast, we activated the entire district police force. Acting on the input, we raided several places and seized a huge quantity of illegal firecrackers,” he said.

In Moolganj, police have claimed to have recovered 14 cartons of firecrackers worth one and a half quintals. Six cartons (50 kg) worth Rs 2 lakh were recovered from the shop of one person, Ikram, and Rs 40,000 were recovered from the shop of Abdul Bilal.

Police said two FIRs have been registered in connection with these recoveries.

In Fazalganj, around 60-65 quintals of firecrackers were recovered in a raid led by Assistant CP (Swaroop Nagar) IP Singh. Rs 15 lakh from a warehouse.

The property owned by Himanshu alias Kaku, resident of Govind Nagar, was rented out to a person named Raja Paswan three years ago and both were currently absconding.

In Naubasta, police raided Madhuban Lawn in Yashoda Nagar and seized an estimated five quintals of fireworks. 18 lakhs.

Deputy CP (South) Deependra Nath Chaudhary said the material was stored illegally in a residential area.

“The lawn is owned by Mahendra Singh Yadav and managed by Hariom Awasthi, who failed to produce any legal license,” he said.

Police seized 9.35 quintals (30 cartons) of firecrackers in Govind Nagar. Rs 9 lakh from a factory. Legal action has been initiated by registering an FIR.

Lal said five FIRs have been registered so far, leading to six arrests and 26 people have been detained for questioning, including 18 from Moolganj alone.

Another twist in the investigation came when false and provocative messages were circulated on an This led to immediate action from intelligence units, who flagged the posts as attempts to spread misinformation.

The police commissioner admitted that the social media activity “indicates a larger conspiracy” aimed at creating panic.

“We are conducting two parallel investigations – one into the blast, and the other into a coordinated online misinformation campaign,” he said.

The raids and ongoing investigation have revealed illegal firecracker storage, revealing a dangerous network operating in the residential and commercial areas of the city.