TIRUCHY: The crime branch CID Police on Friday took over the investigation into Thursday’s blast at an explosives factory at T Murungapatti village near Thuraiyur near here, which claimed 19 lives and injured more than 10 persons.
The CB-CID collected evidences from the blast spot and held discussions with the local police and others.
Meanwhile, a team of explosives experts from Chennai and Nagpur also visited the blast site and collected pieces of the exploded stuff and other materials from the site for investigation.
Police cordoned off the roads leading to the blast site and did not allow even the local residents as well journalists anywhere near it. Ms. Rajeshwari, superintendent of police, CB-CID, and her team who began the investigation by getting the case history including the FIR copy from the local Uppiliyapuram police, also in a humanitarian gesture visited the injured persons undergoing treatment at Thuraiyuar government hospital.
Protesting against this, the villagers of T Murungapatti, Venkatachalapuram, Sentharapatti and other villages from where the deceased hailed, blocked the road, resulting in traffic on Thuraiyur-Salem highway totally blocked for over four hours.
The agitated villagers demanded that the factory should be closed down permanently and demanded to know the reasons behind the blast and the actual casualty figure.
Official sources said the forensic experts were attempting to identify the dead victims amid several bodies mutilated. Uppiliapuram police had registered cases against manging director of the factory, Vijay Kannan of Salem district, besides Prakasam, Rajagopal and Anandan, officials at the unit.
Vijay Kannar is said to be absconding and police are on the lookout for him, sources said. The Tiruchy collector K.S. Palanisamy held discussions with the revenue and the police officials at Thuraiyur for providing compensation to the family members of the victims and the injured. They are awaiting the State government’s order to grant compensation.
