Varanasi: Kotwali police in Ballia district arrested three men and seized 656.8 kg of illegal firecrackers and explosive material during a raid in Gudri Bazaar area on Wednesday.Ballia CO (city) Satish Kumar Sharma said, “Acting on a tip-off, a Kotwali team led by inspector Praveen Kumar Singh raided a shop and house near the cattle hospital, where explosives were being stored in large quantity and were planned for unauthorised supply across the district.”Police recovered nine cartons filled with crackers from the basement of Chetan Gupta’s shop. A truck parked outside was also checked when 16 more cartons of crackers were found inside. The driver, Ashish Yadav of Azamgarh, was arrested along with shop owner Chetan Gupta and his father Shashimohan Gupta.Gupta confessed that the consignment was procured from Varanasi and stored for selling in Ballia. Officials said even a minor accident at the site could have caused a major disaster. A case was registered under provisions of the Explosives Act and BNS and the accused are being produced before a court today for further legal proceedings.
