Over 2,000 kg firecrackers seized in Delhi, 6 arrested

PTI, Oct 18, 2022, 6:13 PM IST

Ahead of Diwali, police arrested six people in four separate operations and seized over 2000 kg of firecrackers in the national capital, officials said on Tuesday. Of the total, three operations were carried out by police teams of Dwarka, northeast and south districts and one other was conducted by the narcotics squad, they said.

In Madangir’s central market on Monday, during patrolling at around 4.30 pm, police arrested Sanjay Kumar (53) after they found firecrackers inside the plastic bags he was carrying, Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) Chandan Chowdhary said. Later, a total of 1,193 kg firecrackers were recovered from his shop in Madangir area, he said. A case has been registered against Kumar, a resident of Madangir in Ambedkar Nagar, and the firecrackers have been seized, police said.

The narcotics squad of south district conducted a raid at a shop in Madangir’s Central Market and arrested Sagar (27) who was found selling firecrackers, they said. Police said they seized 283 kg firecrackers from his possession. In another operation, police laid a trap in Welcome area based on a tip-off. At around 10.30 pm, police flagged down a tempo and during checking they found 13 cartoons containing a total of 611 kg firecrackers, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Sanjay Kumar Sain said. The accused driver, Kapil (27), a resident of Burari, was arrested, he said.

He disclosed that they used to buy firecrackers from different states through parcel services and further deliver the same to several shops in Delhi-NCR, the DCP said. Kapil said the tempo belonged to his elder brother Vivek and he had picked these cartoons from Pragati Transport in Burari and was on his way to deliver them to Shahdara, police said. In the third operation, police conducted raids at three shops in Uttam Nagar and Rawta Mor, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Harsha Vardhan said. Police arrested the shop owners – Shanky (33), Suresh Tareja (59) and Rakesh Kumar (40). A total of 224.3 kg firecrackers were recovered from their shops, Vardhan said. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) had ordered a complete ban on the production, sale and use of all types of firecrackers in the national capital till January 1, 2023. The order said the ban also extends to the online sale of firecrackers.