Police are putting in every effort to seize illegal firecrackers from across Malda district after the blaze at a busy marketplace of the town on Tuesday.

The blaze occurred after containers of calcium carbide exploded at the market. The fire spread to an adjoining shop where illegal firecrackers were stored and took 12 hours to control.

Two daily-rated workers died in the incident that made senior police officers raise an alert. Officers across police stations in the district were asked to raid and seize illegal firecrackers.

In one such raid, a team from Baishnabnagar police station seized crackers from Jelepara in Kaliachak-III block on Wednesday.

“Crackers worth around Rs 40,000 have been seized. It’s not about how much these crackers were worth. In case of a sudden fire, these crackers could have aggravated the situation as was seen a couple of days back in the Malda market,” said a police officer.

The police, sources said, through public announcements, are asking people to refrain from storing and selling firecrackers illegally.

“Those engaged in such illegal trading should soak crackers in water or hand them over to us. If it is found that people have kept such crackers and defied the alert, appropriate penal steps will follow,” the officer added.

Jayanta Kundu, the president of Malda Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce, said: “We stand by the police intheir drive against illegal crackers.”

Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury, the Englishbazar civic chairman, said the sale or storage of inflammable items in a crowded market area would not be allowed. A trader with a permit to store and sell such items must find a suitable location to do so, he said.