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Bhubaneswar: A few days after a cracker blast at the Banamalipur Nuasahi on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar which took two lives, the Commissionerate Police on Sunday raided illegal firecracker manufacturing units at Trilochanpur village under Jagatpur area in Cuttack district and seized huge cache of crackers and raw explosives.
As per reports, police raided various firecrackers making units running illegally in the village and also arrested several people in connection with the incident.
Cuttack DCP Akhileshvar Singh said, "Explosives have been seized and five persons including a woman were arrested. Two main accused are still at large and manhunt has been launched to nab them."
However, tension ran high at Trilochanpur after the raids as some villagers opposed the police action. Later, to maintain law and order in the area, at least seven platoons of security forces have been deployed.
“The raids will adversely affect more than 70 families of the village, who used to manufacture firecrackers to eke out a living since years, said a local, adding that the crackers made in the village are not very explosive that people will lose their lives.”
Another resident of the village said, “Crackers are manufactured in the village once in a year during Diwali. We have been requesting the concerned administration for the permission to manufacture firecrackers. The officials should have served us notice and alerted us. Such raid by the cops will affect many poor people of the village who had burrowed loan for making the crackers. We condemn the police action.”
In Berhampur, the police sealed the cracker market at Balunkeswara citing lack of safety measures.
