KANPUR, Oct. 9 -- Police have ruled out any terror angle in the powerful explosion that rocked the congested Bisat Khana market area on Meston Road in Kanpur on Wednesday evening, attributing the incident to the illegal stocking of firecrackers.

In a crackdown, police dismantled the shutters of multiple shops through Wednesday night and Thursday, recovering nearly seven quintals of firecrackers stored unlawfully near the blast site, officials said.

Describing the incident as a "local and preventable lapse", commissioner of police Raghubir Lal took swift disciplinary action. Kotwali ACP Ashutosh Kumar was relieved of his post, while six police personnel, including Moolganj SHO Vikram Singh, were suspended with immediate effect. Others su...