The crime branch of Palwal police has busted an illegal firecracker manufacturing unit operating in Manpur village, Hathin, and seized more than two tonnes of crackers and raw materials allegedly meant for supply to Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad and other parts of the National Capital Region (NCR), officials said on Saturday.
Police said the factory was functioning clandestinely amid agricultural fields and was discovered after the crime branch received a tip-off from an informer. During the raid, officers seized a total of 2,019.42 kilograms of materials, including 1,899.83 kilograms of fully prepared crackers packed in 28 sacks for distribution. The rest included 18 kilograms of potash powder, 14 kilograms of various salts, and 45 kilograms of charcoal powder used to prepare explosive mixtures for filling fireworks. Packaging materials, an electric grinding machine and an electronic weighing machine were also recovered.
Sanjay Kadian, public relations officer of Palwal police, said, “After physical verification of the factory, the crime branch finally carried out a raid late Thursday night. Even at that time, manufacturing at full scale was going on due to excessive demand on the occasion of Diwali.”
Officials said a suspect identified as Mohammad Mohil, a resident of Swamika village in Hathin, was arrested during the raid while he was engaged in making fireworks. During interrogation, Mohil revealed that the factory was owned by Mohammad Alamuddin, alias Allu, also from Hathin, who is currently absconding.
A senior crime branch official said the seized items were conventional firecrackers, banned under the Supreme Court’s directions. “Wholesale buyers from Delhi-NCR as well as Palwal used to reach the village to clandestinely take away consignments for sale to the public. The footfall of such elements had suddenly skyrocketed, which led to some villagers growing suspicious, after which they alerted us,” he said.
He added that the factory’s remote location helped it operate undetected. “The factory was far from any establishment, due to which none came to know about its existence earlier,” the official said. The materials were reportedly sourced from markets in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
“The factory owner is on the run. We are trying to arrest him to crack down on the entire supply chain,” the official added.
On the complaint of a crime branch officer, an FIR was registered at Mungkati police station on Friday against Alamuddin, Mohil and other unidentified suspects under Section 9(B) of the Explosives Act.