Accused in 2018 Warangal fire acquitted after witnesses turn hostile

 Hyderabad: The case of ten people killed in a fire accident in Bhadrakali Fireworks at Geesukonda village in Warangal in July 2018, ended in acquittal recently. The Assistant Sessions Court at Warangal, which delivered the verdict, ruled that there was no material to prove the charges levelled against the accused.

“All material witnesses turned hostile and they did not support the case of prosecution. Except that, there is no sufficient material to prove the case of prosecution beyond all reasonable doubt,” said the court.

Police had named the owner of the unit as the main accused, and also four raw material suppliers from Tamil Nadu, accusing them of filing quantities that exceeded his permitted limit. They had filed the chargesheet only against the owner and shown the suppliers as absconding. The court conducted the trial only against the owner.

During the trial, the family members of the victims killed in the mishap told the court that they do not know the reason for the accident and that there was no negligence on the part of the accused.

The workers at the unit named as witnesses too deposed that there was no negligence on the part of the accused. Witnesses named by the prosecution too turned hostile and informed the court that they never visited Bhadrakali Fireworks and never witnessed anything.

The complainant, family members of one of the deceased persons, also retracted from his complaint and said that police obtained his signature and filed a case and that the accused is not responsible for the death of deceased persons and that there was no negligence on the part of the accused.

 “The de facto complainant gave a clean chit to the accused and even he did not admit the contents of his report,” observed the court.