The owner of a private firecrackers manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar district, where 25 people lost their lives and five others were injured in an explosion, has surrendered to the court.
Four of his accomplices have been arrested, police said on Tuesday, while four special teams were formed to trace V Muthu Manickam, the owner of Vanaja Fireworks.
The explosion occurred at the facility in Kattanarpatti village in Virudhunagar, about 550km south of Chennai, on April 19.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, and chief minister M K Stalin had offered condolences to the bereaved family members.
A case has been filed at the Vachakarapatti Police Station, and the incident is currently under investigation.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the unit holds a license from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), Nagpur, but some violations were recorded, including accommodating 20 people instead of four in a room while manufacturing firecrackers.
