Nagpur factory blast: Nine directors of explosives manufacturing company held

Nagpur: Police have arrested nine directors of an explosives manufacturing company in Maharashtra’s Nagpur district where a blast claimed the lives of 18 persons, officials said on Monday.

The Kalmeshwar police here have registered a case against 21 directors and shareholders of the SBL Energy Limited under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, they said. Nine directors of the company have so far been arrested, the police officials said.

At least 19 workers were charred to death, and 24 others were injured, most of them critically, in a powerful blast at the detonator packing unit of SBL Energy Limited, a mining and industrial explosives manufacturer, at Raulgaon in Katol tehsil here on Sunday morning.

Superintendent of Police (Nagpur Rural) Dr Harssh Poddar on Monday said that an initial report by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) and Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) pointed to safety lacunae at the company.

Acting on the report, the police registered the case against the company officials, he said.

The arrested persons were being questioned and efforts were underway to apprehend the remaining accused in the case, the official said.

According to police, the bodies were charred beyond recognition, and samples of the family members were being taken for DNA testing to ascertain the identities of the deceased.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered a thorough investigation into the cause of the explosion.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Monday said prima facie there was “negligence” on the part of the Nagpur-based SBL Energy Limited, where a blast claimed 19 lives, and safety measures were not followed by the explosives manufacturer.

The Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) and the labour commissionerate also failed to ensure safety practices in explosive manufacturing units in the region, and their accountability must be fixed, Bawankule told reporters here.