Bhilai Steel Plant explosion: Chhattisgarh Police files FIR against four officials, charges them with negligence

Raipur: Three days after a blast at the Bhilai Steel Plant in Chhattisgarh claimed the lives of 13 employees, an FIR was registered on Friday against four officials of the plant for alleged negligence, police said. Two of these officials have already been suspended in the wake of the tragic incident. [caption id=“attachment_5370371” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Smoke seen emanating from the Bhilai steel plant. PTI[/caption] The explosion had occurred in a gas pipeline at the plant of the state-owned Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) in Durg district’s Bhilai town, 30 kilometres from Raipur. Four officials of the energy management department of the plant were booked for allegedly overlooking safety standards and not assessing possible hazards, police said Friday. These officials were Executive Director (works) PK Das, General Manager (coke oven) GVS Subramaniam, Deputy General Manager (energy) Naveen Kumar and Manager (Safety and Fire department) P Pandya Raja, a police official said. The case was registered against them under IPC Sections 287 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery), 304-A (causing death by negligence) and 34 (common intention) based on preliminary findings of the state’s deputy director of industrial health and safety, police said, adding that further probe is underway. No arrest has been made yet. Ten injured employees are undergoing treatment at the burns unit of the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital Research Centre in Bhilai. The plant’s Chief Executive Officer M Ravi was removed on Wednesday, while Raja and Kumar were suspended.