Varanasi: Sindhora police and Special Operations Group-2 raided a house in Sindhora Bazaar late on Monday and seized over 500 kg of finished and semi-finished firecrackers, along with raw explosive materials.Sindhora police station in-charge Pankaj Kumar Pandey said on Tuesday that acting on a tip-off about illegal firecracker manufacturing and storage, a team raided the house of Rafiq (45) in Sindhora Bazaar.During the search, police recovered 501.5kg of finished and semi-finished firecrackers, besides raw explosive materials and equipment. The seized items, included sparklers, rockets, bullet bombs, sutli bombs, mirchi bombs and chakris, along with gunpowder, saltpetre, sulphur, charcoal and aluminium powder.Police arrested Rafiq after he failed to produce a valid licence. During questioning, he told investigators that he planned to sell the firecrackers to shops for profit.A case has been registered against him under the Explosives Act and relevant provisions of BNS.
