Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav said on Feb 8 that when he saw the first video of the fire tragedy in Harda, he thought it was a bomb blast and suspected a terror attack.  

Yadav said that therefore, he made the first call to Home minister Amit Shah to inform him about the incident.

The tragic blaze in a firecracker factory in Harda killed nearly a dozen people besides leaving around 200 others injured on Feb 6.

Speaking on the floor of the house on the second day of the budget session of the state Assembly, the CM said, “At that time, it wasn’t clear if it was a fire incident or a bomb blast. It looked like a blast, and therefore, I immediately informed Home minister Amit Shah.”

Yadav said he has ordered for the transfer of Harda district collector and SP to avoid any possibility of bias in the investigation into the matter, adding that the district administration had declared Harda’s firecracker factory as illegal several months ago, but no action was initiated by the officials. Hence, he has transferred the district collector, SP and some other officials.

“No matter whether it was senior or junior officials, those found guilty will be punished after the detailed investigation report is submitted to me. I have also directed all the district collectors to conduct search operations at cracker factories operating in the state and take stern action against those found not complying with the mandatory norms,” Yadav said.

In the past two days, over a dozen cracker factories have been sealed in different parts of Madhya Pradesh, including in Bhopal and Indore.  

Meanwhile, the government on Feb 8 appointed senior IAS officer Aditya Singh as Harda district collector. A 2014 batch IAS officer, Singh was posted as additional secretary in the science and technology department before.

(Source: IANS)

-Edited for style

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