A day after Hapur factory fire, police register case against factory owner and manager

The accused have been booked under Sections 286 (negligent conduct wet explosives), 287 (negligent conduct wet machinery), 304 (culpable homicide), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 337 (act endangering life) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The complainant, a native of Shahjahanpur, alleged his cousin, who was working at the factory at the time of the fire, is missing. “My chacha’ son Irfan (22) worked at Ruhi Industries. Other people from my village worked at the same factory. They manufactured firecrackers. The factory is owned by Dilshad and a man named Wasim was running it. On June 4, there was an explosion around 3 pm at the factory which led to a fire,” reads the FIR.

The complainant named nine other people from his village and said they died in the fire.

“Others are severely injured. I went to the spot and found that more than eight people were charred, they died… This happened because of the negligence of the owner and the manager. My cousin Irfan is still missing… We don’t know where he is,” said the complainant in the FIR.

According to the police probe, the unit had a license to manufacture electronics but they were making firecrackers.

A fire broke out around 3 pm on Saturday when more than 27 workers were inside the factory. The police said they found eight charred bodies and others were rescued but they succumbed to burn injuries.