The prime accused in the fireworks factory blast, which killed six people and injured more than 20 others in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas on May 14, was arrested at Delhi airport on his return from China on Thursday.
Mukesh Vij, a resident of Delhi, used to run fireworks factories in Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The Dewas unit was set up under the name Anil Malviya, although all operations and commands were managed by Vij. He was in China at the time of the explosion.
“…Vij arrived in New Delhi on the morning of 21 May [Thursday] From Guangzhou, China. A special team of Dewas police arrested him at the airport. To ensure his arrest, a surveillance bulletin was issued at the national level, which made it possible to identify and intercept him. Another absconding accused, Mahesh Chauhan from Uttarakhand, was also arrested in Delhi and the investigation is ongoing, Dewas Superintendent of Police Puneet Gehlot said. “Mukesh Vij’s interrogation will shed light on how the plant was run.”
Malviya, Mohammad Ayaz and Kapil Vij were earlier arrested in connection with the blast which was so powerful that body fragments were found 20-25 feet away. Investigations showed that explosives were stored in the factory beyond the permissible limits to meet large orders.
