Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: Police arrested five people on Monday in connection with a deadly explosion at an iron casting unit in Assam's Cachar district. The blast killed four workers on Sunday morning at a facility in the Pangram area under the Udharband assembly constituency. The factory owner, Rakesh Kumar Surana, was caught in Guwahati and taken to the Udharbond Police Station for questioning. Four others, including the facility manager, also face formal charges for failing to maintain basic safety standards.
The explosion occurred around 11 am while workers handled metal casting. Investigators suspect an LPG cylinder leak triggered the blast. The four victims were Appu Boraik, Kiron Munda, Shyamal Gaur, and Sagar Nath. Their bodies were taken to Silchar Medical College and Hospital. Several other workers sustained injuries and received medical treatment.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma directed officials to fast-track the investigation. The government announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh for each victim's family. Udharband MLA Rajdeep Goala and Cachar Deputy Commissioner Rahul Kumar Gupta handed over the payments. A forensic team is scouring the site for evidence. Authorities launched a magisterial inquiry and a Labour Department probe to see if safety norms were ignored. Local residents claim previous blasts went unreported. One official noted, "Police said all allegations would be examined as part of the investigation and warned that strict legal action would be taken if evidence of negligence or violations of industrial safety regulations is established."
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