Ahead of Diwali, the Delhi Police has arrested 10 people from separate places and recovered around 700 kg illegal firecrackers from them, officials said on Tuesday.
In the first incident, police arrested Pawan Kumar, a resident of Tri Nagar, from west Delhi's Mundka area with 16.16 kg firecrackers, they said.
On the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, police were patrolling and when they reached at Ghevra Mor, they saw one person going towards Nangloi on a scooter with a plastic bag, a senior police officer said.
Police intercepted the scooter and checked the bag. They found firecrackers in it, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Parwinder Singh said.
Kumar disclosed that he runs a confectionery shop near his house in Tri Nagar. He had purchased the firecrackers from Bahadurgarh in Haryana and wanted to sell them at his shop on Diwali, police said.
In the other incident, a 32-year-old woman was arrested from Sultanpuri area with 25.5 kg firecrackers, they said.
On Monday, police were in Sultanpuri area when they got a tip-off about a woman having illegal firecrackers in P-4 Block. Acting on the information, police arrested the woman, Mr Singh said.
The accused was identified as Rani, a resident of P-4 Block, and a total of 25.5 Kg illegal firecrackers were recovered from her possession, the DCP said.
Rani disclosed that she had bought the firecrackers from Gurgaon in Haryana in order to make quick money by selling them during the festival, police said.
The Rohini district police arrested 40-year-old Asha, a resident of Budh Vihar Phase-1 in Rohini, who was selling firecrackers from her home.
On Monday, police got information about the sale of banned and prohibited fire crackers at Budh Vihar Phase-1 in Rohini, police said.
Police conducted raid and Asha was found involved in selling of illegal and banned firecrackers in front of her house. She was apprehended from the spot, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Pranav Tayal said.
Police recovered 570 kg of completely banned non-green and green firecrackers, they added.
Similarly, the North district police has arrested seven people for allegedly selling the banned firecrackers in Sadar Bazaar area, police said.
Police were patrolling the area and crossing Sher Ka Pinjra, Idgah Road around 7.45 am on Monday when they noticed seven people carrying big plastic bags in their hands, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi said.
On suspicion, they were stopped for inquiry and during checking, a total of 77.2 kg firecrackers were found inside the bags. The accused have been identified as Irfan Malik (18), Firoz (22), Avnish (18), Karan Singh (21), Anil Gupta (22), Ravi (25) and Sher Mohammad (25), the DCP said.
During interrogation, Sher Mohammad disclosed that he was the owner of firecrackers. He had purchased the firecrackers last year on Diwali, but due to complete ban on firecrackers, he was not able to sell them, police said.
As the ban was imposed on the sale of firecrackers this year as well, he along with his six servants decided to sell these firecrackers in the market to passersby, Mr Kalsi added.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced a ban on firecrackers on September 15, saying it was "essential to save lives".
On September 28, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee ordered a complete ban on the sale and bursting of firecrackers in the national capital till January 1, 2022.
NDMC Launches 'Night Cleaning Drive' Amid Delhi's 'Very Poor' Air Quality 4 Members Of 'Band Baja Baraat' Gang Arrested From Delhi-Gurugram Border Delhi Tops Polluted City List As Air Quality Crisis Persists In North India Amazon Employee Greets Friend At Wedding, Dies Of Cardiac Arrest This Asian City Is Emerging As Sex Tourism Hub. It's Not Where You Think Maharashtra Chief Minister Pick Contentious For Both Ruling, Opposition Camps PM Modi: Culture, Cuisine, Cricket Strengthen India-Guyana Ties Elon Musk Slams Australia's Plan To Ban Social Media For Kids Under 16 Assam Chief Minister Unveils These Facilities At Legislative Complex Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.