One had tears, the other held back their tears: the labourers of Madhya Pradesh were called to death; Entire factory illegal, who is responsible for 21 deaths?

There was a blast and the flames were spreading in the air... At that time, I had the first courage to enter the factory. As soon as I went in, my mind became numb... The scattered limbs of the labourers were scattered all around. Seeing this scene, my throat was filled with tears and tears fell from my eyes... These are the words of Bhawansingh Thakor. The first person to go inside after the blast at a firecracker factory in Deesa. What the first person described is also heart-wrenching... My sister and brother-in-law used to stay in the factory godown and work... I'm looking for him. I have held back my tears just to find him. These are the words of Lalitaben Devipujak. His sister and brother-in-law stayed in the factory godown and worked as labourers. After the blast, he can't be traced and Lalitaben is looking for him. Labourers from Handia village in Harda district of Madhya Pradesh and Sandalpur in Dewas district came to Deesa in Gujarat hoping to get two paise more. But this was calling the labourers to death. He left Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, the 29th, on the day of Amavasya. Reached Deesa by Sunday afternoon on The 31st. They were arranged to stay in a godown at the fireworks factory. The next day, april 1, the new work was to start from Monday. On Monday morning, the labourers started a new work at a new place and yama's envoy arrived. 21 labourers working in a firecracker factory in Deesa had come with hope, went back with shrouds... Bhaskar's team reached the ground to know the facts of the incident. How did such a massive explosion happen after all? What did the first person to come to help see? What was the situation in the factory when the blast took place? Did the factory owner have a license to make firecrackers or not? How much damage was caused to the owners of other godowns in the vicinity? What help did the government do? We will know the answers to all these questions in today's ground report... It was as if a bulldozer had turned over the factory... Bhaskar's team also reached Deesa from Ahmedabad after learning about a major incident in a factory named Deepak Traders located on Dhuva Road in Deesa taluka of Banaskantha district. We first reached the spot. There we saw that the block where the explosion took place in the fireworks factory had completely collapsed. Seeing the condition of the factory, it seemed as if a bulldozer had been turned on it. Apart from this, the walls of the godowns of other people in the vicinity also collapsed. All the window panes of the fireworks warehouse seen in front of them were broken. The blast was so massive that pieces of the factory wall, including large bricks, fell up to 15 feet away in the surrounding fields and in the adjacent godown. Huge godowns were built to store firecrackers and the labourers lived in them. Bhaskar's team checked other places in the factory and found that huge godowns had been built here to stock firecrackers. Looking at the fireworks in this warehouse, it seemed that all types of big fireworks were being made here from small to big. There was also no facility of ventilation in the godown. It is said that these labourers had arranged to sleep in the same godown when they came to Deesa. A total of 28 workers were working in the factory, out of which 25 workers were from Madhya Pradesh while the other three were local Gujaratis from Deesa. A total of 21 of the 28 workers have died, some of whom have been identified while some are yet to be identified. Because the explosion was so intense that the screams of the workers' bodies were blown away. During the rescue operation, it was so difficult to identify people without DNA, it would not be known who the dead belonged to. So the other dead will be identified only after the DNA test. The FACTORY's GST number is in the name of Deepak's mother The fireworks factory was operating in the name of Deepak Traders whose GST number is 24ACGPM2349N1ZC. Bhaskar put this number on the GST site and found out that Jashodaben was speaking the name of Khubchandbhai Mohani in it. Who is the mother of Deepak Mohani, the owner of Deepak Traders, who makes firecrackers illegally. The registration date of Deepak Traders Firm is July 01, 2017. It also clearly mentions the type of business in which there is no mention of making firecrackers anywhere, only the license of the wholesaler and distributor was given... How did the blast happen? The workers in the factory were making firecrackers. During that time, there was a small spark in the liquor that comes to make firecrackers, due to this spark, the boiler of the fireworks ammunition lying inside exploded and there was a big explosion. Due to which 21 laborers died. The first person who reached the help told Bhaskar, "I can't put into words what I saw. Speaking to Bhavansinh Thakor, who lives near the fireworks factory at GIDC on Dhunwa Road, Bhaskar said, "I had left here when the blast took place around 9:45 am. After the blast, I saw fire and smoke coming out here. I immediately called 108 and the fire brigade. People were scared to go inside when the blast took place but I showed courage. After which the people around came in after me. When I went inside, I saw that there were piles of bodies. Many of the bodies were cut into pieces. They were in a position that no one could even be identified. The workers' hands and feet were torn to a distance of 100 feet from where the blast took place. This was the first time I had seen scenes I had never seen in my life. Which cannot even be described in words. I had tears in my eyes when I saw the scenes. When we broke the shutters of the adjoining room and went inside, mobile phones of some labourers were lying inside it. We informed people living in their hometowns on their phones. The fire brigade, the police and the system came later. At first, it was the locals who collected the pieces of the bodies of the deceased and sent them to the hospital in an ambulance. There was a strong smell of chemicals at the spot. We all pulled out the bodies of the dead by tying handkerchiefs around our mouths. The father-son duo of the firecracker factory owners, Khubchand Mohanani and Deepak Mohanani, had been in the fireworks business here for the last 7-8 years. They only had a licence to sell firecrackers but they were sitting with the sale of firecrackers as well as opening an illegal fireworks manufacturing factory. I couldn't even cry in search of a sister-in-law!! A woman named Lalitaben Devipujak was running around while searching for her relatives in the hospital. Bhaskar tried to know their pain. "My younger sister Lakshmiben and brother-in-law Ashokbhai Sosaria used to work in the same factory. They also used to make everything here to eat and drink. Sometimes he used to come home with leave. He used to work as a packer in a fireworks factory. He used to get Rs. 400 a day as wages. Workers from Madhya Pradesh also lived in the factory here. I have seen the bodies of all the deceased in the hospital in which I have not found the body of my relative. I'm worried. I'm not crying with courage. That's all I've held back my tears! I'm looking for them. I pray to God that nothing has happened to him... 'The blast also caused the wall of my factory to collapse' Mukeshbhai Panchiwala, the owner of a warehouse next to the fireworks factory, told Bhaskar, "I was having tea and breakfast at my house in the morning when I got the news on the phone around 10.30 pm that there was a blast near your godown. So I immediately reached my warehouse. I saw that one of the walls of my godown had collapsed. Large pieces of the wall of the fireworks factory room in which the blast took place were lying on our godown. Due to this incident, we have suffered a loss of one and a half to two lakh rupees. This incident is a very sad incident, the loss of money can be tolerated, but the 21 laborers who lost their lives will never come back again. Whoever is guilty will not be spared: Minister Minister Balwant Singh Rajput reached the spot and inspected the incident. Talking to the media, he said that this incident is a heart-wrenching sad incident. Separate teams have been formed for investigation. A team has also been formed at the DIG level in the police. The exact reason behind the blast will be known only after the report of the investigation comes. Whoever is guilty in this incident will not be spared. The factory owner only had a licence to sell firecrackers. He did not even register with the industry or labour department. Case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder filed: SP Banaskantha SP Akshayraj Makwana, while talking to Bhaskar, said that a team of police and local administration immediately reached the spot after coming to know about the incident. Later, we called teams of JCB machines and SDRF and started rescue. Range IG Sahib has created an SIT in this matter. In which Dy.SP. Officers of the rank are investigating. This team also has PI and PSI of LCB and SOG. The investigation of the team will be supervised at the SP level. Deepak Mohanani, the owner of Deepak Traders, and his father Khubchand Mohanani and whoever is its manager or stock owner have been charged with murder under Section 304 of the IPC i.e. bad intention to murder. The factory owner had not obtained any kind of license to make firecrackers. When he demanded a licence from the administration and the police for the storage of firecrackers, the police went to the factory in a proper manner and inspected it. It was also videographed and photographed. On inspection, we felt that there was no proper ventilation system here, so we also gave a negative opinion for the warehouse. The fireworks factory was completely illegal. For which he did not even have a license. The interrogation of those who survived the incident revealed that the labourers had come here only on the night of March 31 and prima facie it appears that the factory started yesterday. Factory owner Deepak Mohanani and his father Khubchand Mohana were arrested late in the night. Among the dead, 10 are from Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh and the rest are from Harda district. While the other three people have been found to be from Deesa. There was no quantity of making firecrackers at the time of investigation: Collector Banaskantha collector Mihir Patel said the place was a godown for storage of firecrackers. It was licensed in 2021 for a firecracker godown and expired in December 2024. He then applied for renewal of the licence. Around March 15, a team of police department and mamlatdars visited the factory. Which was also videographed. The entire place was empty at that time. There was no quantity to make firecrackers. After the inspection, it seems that in the last 15 days, the quantity of making these firecrackers illegally has been stored. The entire matter is currently being thoroughly investigated by the FSL and the police team. Dna samples of people whose body parts have only been found are being collected. The illegal factory had a stock of nitrate, sulphur and banned aluminium powder For four years, the license was renewed, but in 2024, the license was not renewed. The illegal factory ran throughout the year. Last year, the work of making cotton bombs in the factory was started. For which a large quantity of nitrate and sulfur viftock was brought. The highly explosive banned aluminium powder as well as sodium and sulfate powder were used in the illegal fireworks factory. Which led to the blast. An inquiry was conducted by the agency but the matter did not come to the notice of any of them. It was announced by the SP that a negative report had been given for opinion by the Deesa DySP, but despite giving a negative report, the factory remained in a shambles and was not sealed and closed. The locals said with great fervour that there have been dramas only in the name of investigation the system has closed its eyes. All the deceased were labourers from Handia and Sandalpur villages of Madhya Pradesh. When Dainik Bhaskar's team from Bhopal reached this village and met the family, one of the family members said that the day all these people left here for Gujarat was of Amas...