Calcutta’s police commissioner Soumen Mitra on Saturday instructed his officers to ensure no form of firecrackers are allowed in the city on Diwali and Kali Puja following the Calcutta High Court order.
Calcutta High Court on Friday banned the use of all forms of firecrackers, including green crackers, in celebrating Diwali, Kali Puja, Chhath Puja, Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
In a meeting held at the Alipore Bodyguardlines attended by the senior officers of Calcutta police, all the police stations were instructed to conduct raids and seize all types of firecrackers across the city.
Many police stations have already seized firecrackers in central Calcutta and Port division on Thursday and Friday.
An officer-in-charge in south Calcutta said it would be easier to conduct such raids this year compared to last year as there was a complete ban on firecrackers.
“Till last year, while making firecracker seizures we had to sort between green and non-green crackers. A complete ban on firecrackers is a lot easier to implement.”
Joint commissioner police (headquarters) Subhankar Sinha Sarkar said all the police stations were instructed to implement the high court order on firecrackers and to ensure that firecrackers were not used in high rise buildings and gated communities as well.
“If any incident of bursting firecrackers is reported from high rise buildings, then the secretary and president of the building will be held responsible,” Sinha Sarkar said.
The high court on Friday had observed that “only wax or oil-based diyas might be used”. “We are not convinced that firecrackers of any form, either green or of any other category, ought to be permitted to be used during the coming festive season,” the bench of Justices Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Aniruddha Roy had said, passing an order on Friday.
Till now, officers of the port division and central Calcutta have seized more than 3,000kg of firecrackers that were being transported to Calcutta from the outskirts.
Police sources said the searches and raids against firecrackers would be intensified from Sunday following instructions from the top cop.
Senior officers said there would be adequate police personnel on the roads monitored by senior officers on Diwali and Kali Puja night to ensure compliance of the court order.
Officers of Jorasanko police station seized 540kg of firecrackers from two persons on Tarachand Dutta Street on Friday.