Bidhannagar police have started a case against the owner of the shop where allegedly an LPG cylinder exploded at Kestopur on Thursday in which 15 persons were injured.
The case has been registered under sections of causing grievous hurt by an act that endangers human life and other sections of negligence that caused an explosion.
The police said the owner of the shop was at large and could not be captured till Friday night.
“Krishno Das, the owner of the shop, has fled from his house. We are confident to arrest him soon,” said a senior officer of Bidhannagar city police.
Neighbours, Metro spoke to on Friday said they could not contact Das over phone and that he was not found at his home also.
Paritish Gayen who owns a saree store nearby said that the fritter shop’s owner had not visited the shop and his cellphone remained switched off throughout the day.
“We also tried to get in touch with him but have failed. Many are coming to see the shop today as news of the blast has spread throughout Kestopur,” said Gayen.
The police said it was “very crucial” to examine the shop’s owner to ascertain exactly what combustible substances and how many LPG cylinders were stacked inside the shop.
The shop, on the ground floor of a building at Rabindrapalli — a busy market area off VIP Road — had exploded on Thursday afternoon minutes after neighbours say smoke billowing out of it.
Several people — including those who went to check if the shop was on fire after seeing the smoke — were seriously injured as an LPG cylinder inside exploded, ripping the iron shutter that injured many who were close to the shop.
Out of the 15 persons who were injured, six needed hospitalisation, the police said.
“They are recuperating from their injuries. But they are stable,” said an officer of Baguiati police station.
A team of officials from the state fire and emergency services department visited the shop at Rabindrapalli on Friday afternoon.
The officials collected samples from the site of the explosion.
No formal complaint, however, has been lodged by the fire department with Bidhannagar commissionerate till late on Friday.
On Friday a team from the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) also visited the market and tried restoring the street lights that had been damaged but failed to do so.
“All the lampposts in front of the shop are heavily damaged and have started to list. So we did not take the risk,” a WBSEDCL official said.