Ahmedabad: During this year’s Diwali festivities, a new type of firecracker was trending across Gujarat as well as other parts of India. This dangerous makeshift device, widely known on social media as the “carbide gun” or “desi firecracker gun,” was being sold openly in markets and on footpaths across Ahmedabad and other cities.

This crude device can be assembled for as little as Rs 50 using a PVC pipe, Rs 10 worth of calcium carbide, a few drops of water, and a gas lighter. However, a single wrong move can have deadly consequences. With no significant police action to stop the sale of such carbide guns, many children and teenagers used these devices. Tragically, one such incident in Ahmedabad led to the death of a teenage girl when three teenagers were bursting firecrackers in the pipe, and a piece of iron from the device struck her head.

Although police have booked three youths for recklessly bursting firecrackers, no major action has yet been taken against the people selling carbide guns in the city. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, explosions from this dangerous device, often sold as a ‘toy,’ have endangered the eyesight of hundreds. These guns have caused severe eye injuries to over 300 people, mostly children and young adults. In Bhopal alone, hospitals have reported more than 150 cases, many of whom are at risk of permanent vision loss.

Following these incidents, the Madhya Pradesh police took strict action, arresting two individuals and seizing 59 carbide guns. DCP Zone 2 Bhopal, Vivek Singh, told the media that once the police learned that carbide guns—made using homemade methods—posed a serious risk to human life, they issued alerts to the public prior to and during Diwali.

During interrogation, the two arrested suspects admitted that they were manufacturing carbide guns at home. Pipes and carbide material were seized from them, and a case has been registered under Section 288 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and the Explosives Act. DeshGujarat