KOCHI: Earayil Fireworks, the firecracker manufacturing unit at Muttinakam in Varapuzha where a series of explosions left one person dead and seven injured on Tuesday, had been operating allegedly with a production licence taken from Palakkad. Muttinakam North ward member Liju M P alleged that the licence that the unit had obtained from Ernakulam for sale of firecrackers had expired last year and that it was operating using the licence from Palakkad.
Based on Liju’s complaint, the Varapuzha police on Wednesday registered a case under non-bailable sections of the IPC and Explosives Act, 1884, against the unit’s proprietor Jenson Eerayil and his brother Janson, the unit’s co-owner and tenant of the now-destroyed rented building that was being used to store explosives.
“Janson possessed a licence for manufacturing fireworks at Palakkad. The licence issued for sale of fireworks in Ernakulam had expired in 2022 and was not renewed. The unit had been stocking explosives, manufacturing fireworks and distributing it here illegally,” Liju alleged.
He said the brothers had been procuring explosives from Palakkad and stocking them here. “They own fireworks manufacturing units in Palakkad too. We suspect that a large quantity of explosives was stocked in the house illegally to make firecrackers anticipating huge demand during Vishu and Easter,” Liju said. Janson suffered 40% burns in the explosion and is being treated in a hospital in Kochi. Jenson has been asked to appear at the police station with documents of the licence on Thursday.
“The duo’s father Anson had started the unit at Muttinakam. All we know is that they used the house to stock crackers which they sold from an outlet in Varapuzha. Since the area is remote but densely populated, we did not know about the manufacturing activities,” said Varapuzha panchayat president Kochurani Joseph. She said the injured persons are recuperating at the hospital. Two of them, including a child, who were in critical condition, are now out of danger, she said.
BLAST: CONDITION OF INJURED PERSONS STABLE, ONE DISCHARGED
The condition of five people, including a woman and three children, who were among those injured in the blast at the firecracker manufacturing unit, is stable while one person has been discharged. Authorities of the private hospital, where the injured persons were admitted on Tuesday, said K J Mathai, 69, was discharged on Wednesday. “The condition of the other five is satisfactory. Of them, Janson, 37, who suffered 40% burns, and Fredeena, 29, are stabilising. Fradeena’s children – Isabel, 8, Esther, 7, and Elsa, 5 – received treatment for minor injuries,” said an official. Mathai’s son Neeraj, 30, who also suffered injuries, was discharged on Tuesday itself