GILGIT, Aug 25: Huge piles of seized firecrackers stored in an under-construction hotel and its godowns by the customs officials have potential to cause a mishap as the makeshift stores are close to the markets.

Sources said that these firecrackers, costing Rs200 million, were imported from China by some Gilgit-based traders in 2001. Since then they had been stored in the private godowns for which the Customs Department had been paying huge sums as rent every year, they said.

The traders in Sust border post questioned the wisdom of the customs officials behind this storage for four years and demanded that these items be released to their owners who were ready to pay the fine and customs duty or these items should be destroyed to prevent any untoward incident.

The traders said they had still been noticing an import of the firecrackers from China and asked the officials that if these items were illegal then why the traders were encouraged to indulge in this trade.