Bhubaneswar, Nov. 3 -- The Markat Nagar police seized a large quantity of firecrackers stored illegally in a rented house in CDA Sector 9 of Cuttack on Tuesday. The trader allegedly responsible for storing the explosives fled during the raid.

Police said that the firecrackers were kept in a house close to an underground GAIL gas pipeline which raised concerns over the safety of people living in the area.

A police official at Markat Nagar police station said that the trader had stored the firecrackers without considering the risks posed by the nearby gas pipeline and the closely built houses.

"The person who stacked and stored the firecrackers had ignored the presence of a gas pipeline in the area. There is an underground GAIL pipeline ...