Two injured, house and shop damaged in Karwar blast

KARWAR: A house and a shop were damaged and two persons severely injured due to a blast at Joguni Gudda near Gangavali on Wednesday morning. The intensity of the explosion, said to be because of the blast of illegally stored firecrackers, was so severe that people in 8-km radius of the blast site heard it.
The injured, Prema Narayan Durgad and Ravi Keshav Naik, are being treated for burns, sources said.Ibrahim Rehaman Saab, vice-president of a co-operative society, and his wife Mumtaz, member of Nadumaskeri GP, were away when their house got damaged. The locals accused the house owner of trying to mislead them by saying that the explosion was due gas cylinder blast.
According to police sources, the blast occurred when the firecrackers, illegally stored by Ibrahim in his house, caught fire and exploded. Even though only two persons have the licence to manufacture crackers in Gangavali and Joguni Gudda villages, over 40 families manufacture the crackers illegally.
The police, besides sending the blast remains to forensic laboratory, have registered a case in Gokarna police station.
SP Raman Gupta said they will thoroughly investigate the matter. "The licence of firecracker manufacturers would be cancelled if their involvement is found," he added.
A similar explosion had taken place in the house of one Mira Saab in the same area 10 years ago.