A day after the District Collector cancelled the licence of a quarry at Ellithodu near Malayattoor after a blast in a building storing gelatine sticks killed two migrant workers, the Ernakulam rural police on Wednesday submitted a preliminary report that almost reaffirmed that decision. The report prima facie found that the quarry was operated in violation of the licence conditions and more than the permissible limit of explosives were stored in the building concerned. K. Karthik, District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural), submitted the report to the District Collector and the explosives controller.
Instead of storing the explosives in a dedicated storeroom, they were kept in the building in violation of the norms. The migrant workers were also illegally accommodated in the building leading to their death in the explosion. “Police have so far arrested seven accused and further probe…