Police arrest key suspect in the Pathar Pratima explosion

Police on Friday arrested another accused in connection with a blast that left eight people dead at Pathar Pratima in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district.

The arrested person is the brother of the prime accused, who is the owner of the firecracker manufacturing unit situated a few metres away from the house where the explosion took place late on Monday.

“We have arrested another accused, who is the brother of the factory owner. We are questioning him as part of our ongoing probe into the incident,” a senior police officer said.

Eight people of a family, including four children, died when a gas cylinder exploded inside a residential house in Pathar Pratima.

This tragedy follows a series of similar incidents in the state.

On February 12, 2025, four people died in an explosion at an illegal firecracker factory in Nadia district.

In May 2023, an explosion at an illegal firecracker unit in Egra, Purba Medinipur, claimed 11 lives, and in August of the same year, another blast in North 24 Parganas district resulted in seven fatalities.