LUCKNOW: The owner and the operator of the factory in Hapur where an explosion on Saturday claimed 13 lives were arrested on Sunday, the police said. Wasim, the operator of the unit, was absconding since the explosion. He himself had sustained burn injuries on his hands and there were stitches on his head as well, a police official said, adding that he received first-aid after the incident and fled.
“He was arrested on Sunday from the Hapur-Meerut bypass,” Superintendent of Police Deepak Bhuker said. “We are providing medical treatment to him,” he said. “Police have also arrested Dilshad, the owner of the factory,” the SP said. An FIR has been registered against both of them. The explosion took place on Saturday at Ruhi Industries in the Dhaulana area.
“So far, 13 people have been killed, while 20 are injured. The injured are undergoing treatment in hospitals in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad and Meerut,” Bhuker said. He added that 11 out of the 13 deceased have been identified, and they are from Shahjahanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Bihar. Soon after news of the explosion got out, Shahjahanpur district’s Bhanderi village, located 280 km from Hapur, drowned in grief.
Superintendent of Police of Shahjahanpur S Anand said they have information that 10 of the deceased were from the village. The deceased have been identified as Sarvesh, Anil, Bhure, Ramu, Anoop, Prempal, Irfan, Chaviram, Noor Hasan and Raghvendra.
(With agency inputs)