Pingla, May 15: Residents of the Pingla village where a blast at an illegal cracker factory killed 12 persons on May 6 have closed down an eatery they had opened for policemen deployed at the site, angry after yesterday's explosion in the rubble that bared the police's failure to sanitise the area.
The villagers of Brahmanbar alleged that the police had failed to provide them with security.
The police have been forced to set up their own kitchen under some trees by hiring people from neighbouring Punyagram.
Brahmanbar residents said they would not allow any cooking in their village for the policemen.
When the officer in charge of Pingla police station, Amit Adhikari, arrived at the site to oversee the cooking arrangements, a resident of Brahmanbar, Mangal Hansda, 28, told him: "There was an explosion at the blast site but your people told us that it was not a bomb. Then what is the point of the police staying here? Why have you brought people from another village to cook here?"
The OC replied: "We also feel hungry like you. My people have to eat."
Hansda shot back: "We are letting you do the cooking today as you have already made the arrangements. But we will not allow your men to cook in our village from tomorrow."
Hansda told this correspondent that Brahmanbarresidents had set up the eatery for the 150 policemen who are guarding the blast site in three shifts.
"We had thought that it would be good for them if they got cooked food without any problem. But yesterday, the police denied there was a blast in the rubble. We think the policemen are not taking yesterday's blast seriously. If this is their attitude, how can they protect us? We are angry and so we decided to close down the eatery," Hansda said.
OC Adhikari said the police could not force anyone to run an eatery for them.
"The villagers themselves had opened the eatery for us and the policemen used to pay for the food. Now, they have closed the eatery. So, we will have to make our own arrangements. There is no place to eat within two-and-a-half kilometres of the village. But the cops have to eat."
The villagers had set up a pandal with a tarpaulin cover that functioned as the eatery.
Sambhu Manna, one of those who had taken the initiative to open the eatery, said: "We had hired chairs, tables, ovens and utensils. We used to charge Rs 50 for a fish-and-rice meal and Rs 40 for a vegetarian meal. We were operating on a no profit-no loss basis. We did it for the policemen, who we thought had come to provide us with protection."
A day after the first blast in Pingla on May 6, villagers had alleged they had informed the police that bombs were being manufactured at the fireworks factory and children had been engaged to handle explosives.
Among the 12 persons killed, there were at least six children, who had been recruited from Murshidabad's Suti.
Teams from the CID's bomb disposal squad and anti-sabotage squad visited the site today.
