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A high-intensity explosion occurred early Tuesday morning at the Nilgunj police outpost under the Barasat area, waking local residents to deafening blasts and thick smoke. The incident was caused by a fire that ignited a large quantity of illegal fireworks seized and stored inside the police outpost. The fire triggered a rapid succession of loud explosions, causing widespread panic in the surrounding populated neighborhood.
Upon receiving information about the blaze, fire tenders arrived at the scene to control the fire. Police officials confirmed that no casualties or injuries have been reported so far from the incident. However, local residents expressed severe concerns over the safety negligence of storing hazardous and explosive materials inside a police outpost located within a residential area.
This event follows a major illegal firecracker factory explosion in nearby Duttapukur in August 2023, which claimed nine lives and led to the suspension of the Nilgunj outpost in-charge over negligence. The area has previously faced allegations regarding the proliferation of illegal firecracker manufacturing units.
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