Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, issued an apology on Saturday to the residents of the Egra area in the state's Purba Medinipur district for the explosion at an illegal firecracker factory that resulted in the deaths of 12 people and numerous injuries.
The head of the Trinamool Congress, who arrived in Khadikul village 11 days after the explosion, added that the incident could have been avoided if the intelligence had been effective.
"I will bow my head down to you and apologise for the incident (blast at the illegal fire factory on May 16). Had the intelligence worked properly then this blast could have been averted," Banerjee stated after distributing compensation checks to the families of those killed and injured in the blast.
She likewise gave over appointment letters of 'home guards' to one part each from the group of those killed in the May 16 blast.
So far nine people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the blast. The main accused died three days after the fact at a hospital in Cuttack in Odisha, where he escaped with his family not long after the incident.
From Khadikul Banerjee is scheduled to arrive at Salboni in Paschim Medinipur region to join party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee for TMC 's mass effort program 'Trinamoole naba jowar', the officials added.
Banerjee urged the villagers to inform the local police in the event that they discover any additional illegal fireworks units operating, stating that two members of the family that owned the illegal factory had been arrested.
The Bengal CM was joined by state chief secretary H K Dwivedi.
The Trinamool Congress supremo's visit to Egra expects importance as three consecutive blasts connected to unlawful firework manufacturing plants have occurred for this present month, ahead of panchayat decisions.
However, the dates for the elections for the village body have not yet been announced.
On May 21, an explosion at an illegal firecracker unit in the Budge Budge neighborhood of the South 24 Parganas district claimed the lives of three members of a family following the blast at Egra on May 16.
The opposition leader had requested that the Calcutta High Court hand over the blast case to the NIA, but the court instead asked the state CID to continue the investigation.
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