Contractor from MP who supplied labourers to Gujarat fireworks unit arrested: Police

A 34-year-old labour contractor from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, Harish Meghwani, was arrested on Sunday in connection with the devastating fire at a firecracker factory in Deesa’s GIDC area that killed 21 workers on April 1.

The deceased were workers from Madhya Pradesh who had recently arrived in Gujarat.

Khubchand Mohonani and his son Deepak Mohonani, who owned the factory, had been arrested earlier and are in judicial custody.

Police said Meghwani allegedly supplied migrant workers from Madhya Pradesh’s Harda district to the factory and had made several visits to the facility prior to the incident, he added.

The Mohonanis had been operating the firecracker unit without proper licenses, and had been penalised for regulatory violations in the past, said officials.

Banaskantha superintendent of police Akshay Raj Makwana said Meghwani was arrested by police on Sunday but refused to divulge details. He said police teams had been sent to Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Rajasthan to track down the suspects.

Police said the authorities were examining financial transactions expanding their investigation across multiple states to map the entire supply chain of the illegal firecracker operation.

A forensic investigation had earlier confirmed the presence of aluminium powder and yellow dextrin powder, both used in firecracker production, at the warehouse near Deesa town in Gujarat where the fire broke out on April 1.