Jaipur’s police commissioner, Sachin Mittal, on Wednesday suspended ten police personnel, including the station house officer of the Kho Nagorian police station, following a deadly fire at an illegal firecracker factory in the area on Tuesday that killed at least eight people, among them a child, HT reported.
Acting on a preliminary inquiry, Commissioner Mittal ordered immediate action against negligent officials and directed a city-wide crackdown on illegal firecracker storage and manufacturing units.
According to the report, Kho Nagorian SHO Omprakash Matwa, along with head constable Ashok, constables Ramavatar, Dinesh, Asif, Harendra, and Ashok, were suspended based on an interim investigation report. Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Ranjita Sharma had earlier suspended ASI Amar Singh and head constable Pappu Ram immediately after the incident.
Additional Police Commissioner (Crime) Ajay Singh has been assigned to lead a fair, transparent, and comprehensive investigation into the incident. A special inquiry committee has been constituted to examine all aspects of the case, including the role of officials involved and compliance with safety norms, with strict action to be taken against those found guilty.
The investigation has now widened well beyond Rajasthan. Police teams have fanned out to Delhi, Farrukhabad and other locations in search of absconding factory operator Firoz and building owner Yakoob.
Preliminary findings suggest Firoz allegedly sourced firecrackers and explosive materials from Delhi and transported them to Jaipur for packaging and distribution. Investigators suspect he was running more than one illegal unit and had previously faced action at a Delhi premises, following which he and his associate, Wasim, allegedly shifted operations to Jaipur. The building where the explosion occurred belongs to brothers Yakoob and Qayyum of Jaipur’s Ghatgate area, who had reportedly rented the property to Delhi-based Firoz around six years ago. Investigators also found evidence that electricity connections at the premises were being used irregularly for factory operations, as per HT.
Commissioner Mittal has directed all district police officials to conduct special surveys and inspection drives targeting illegally operating factories, warehouses, firecracker storage units, and other high-risk establishments, with compliance reports to be submitted within a stipulated timeframe.
Beat officers have been instructed to carry out door-to-door surveys to identify illegal storage and manufacturing of explosives, and strict legal action has been ordered in cases of violations. A day after the blast, police also sealed another illegal firecracker factory in the city, HT reported.
The commissioner stressed that preventing a recurrence of such incidents is the administration’s top priority, with regular monitoring and review of safety standards to be ensured going forward.