Explosion In Rourkela Slum: House Owner Among Three Arrested

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Rourkela: Plant site police on Thursday arrested three persons including the owner of the house where a massive explosion took place claiming the life of a woman and injuring six others.

The accused have been identified as Jawaharlal Srivastav, Durga Srivastav and Niranjan Srivastav.

The explosion had occurred on Monday at Telugu Basti of Madhusudanpalli area here.

A woman identified as Rekha Srivastav, daughter-in-law of Jawaharlal Srivastav died in the mishap.

“The body was found trapped under the debris of Jawaharlal’s house that was damaged in the explosion. It is suspected that Jawaharlal, a businessman, had stored firecrackers, a gas cylinder along with some explosives for sale during Diwali in the first floor of his house. This might have led to the mishap. However, an inquiry is underway to ascertain the exact cause of the incident,” Rourkela DSP Pradyumna Kumar Mishra had informed.

Six persons were injured in the mishap. Two of the critically injured were rushed to Ispat General Hospital (IGH).