Ranit Kr. Singh , New Delhi — The prime accused in a devastating firecracker factory explosion that killed six people and injured over 20 in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas district was arrested at the Delhi airport on Thursday morning. Mukesh Vij, a Delhi resident who managed the facility's operations, was intercepted by a special team of the Dewas Police immediately after his flight landed from Guangzhou, China. A nationwide Look Out Circular had been issued to ensure his apprehension, alongside the arrest of another fleeing co-accused, Mahesh Chauhan of Uttarakhand, who was also taken into custody in the national capital.

The blast occurred on May 14 while Vij was out of the country, triggering an intense law enforcement hunt. Preliminary investigations revealed that the Dewas manufacturing unit, though registered under the name of an associate, was entirely operated by Vij to fulfill large commercial orders. Authorities discovered that the facility had compromised safety protocols by stockpiling massive quantities of hazardous explosives far beyond permissible legal limits, resulting in a blast so powerful that body fragments were scattered 25 feet away. Vij's arrest follows the earlier capture of three other suspects connected to the operation, including the registered owner and local managers.

Local authorities are now shifting their focus toward a deeper interrogation of the primary operators to uncover systemic safety violations. Dewas Police Superintendent Puneet Gehlot emphasized the critical nature of the upcoming questioning in organizing the state's legal case. “The investigation is ongoing. Interrogation of Mukesh Vij will shed light on how the factory was being operated,” Gehlot said.