The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday took suo motu cognisance of the deaths of four workers in Assam’s Cachar district following an explosion at a metal processing factory on Sunday.
Event Context
“They have been arrested on charges of negligence and other offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and have been produced before the court,” Pal said.
The arrested persons were identified as Alok Kumar Tiwari (34) of Rewa, Madhya Pradesh; Rama Kant Singh (35) of Muzaffarpur, Bihar; Shamim Akhtar (35) of Chhapra, Bihar; Rakesh Kumar Surana (63) of Guwahati; and Amichand Jangir (62) of Udharbond.
Surana is the owner of Kade Global Infrastructure LLP, while the other four were part of the management of the company’s metal processing unit where the explosion occurred.
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MLA Rajdeep Goala visited the accident site on Monday, met the victims’ families, and said a district-wide industrial safety audit had been ordered to assess safety measures across all industries.
Team Analysis
The victims’ families said that molten metal spilled over the workers after the explosion, and local residents alleged that such incidents had happened at the factory earlier. The Commission said the matter raised serious issues of human rights violation.
The NHRC issued notices to the Assam government’s chief secretary and the senior superintendent of police (SSP), Cachar, seeking a detailed report on the matter within two weeks.
On Sunday, four persons, including a resident of Tripura’s Agartala died in an explosion at a metal processing industry in Cachar. The deceased were identified as Appu Boraik (32), Kiron Munda (28), Shyamal Gaur and Sagar Nath from Agartala. Police said all four died on the spot.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced an ex gratia payment of ₹5 lakh to the family of each deceased worker and said negligence would not be tolerated.
“Industrial negligence will not be tolerated, and we will take firm action against any lapses,” the CM wrote on X.
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Assam minister Kaushik Rai, who visited the spot on Sunday, said a magisterial inquiry has been ordered along with a police investigation and a separate probe by the district labour commissioner to ascertain whether mandatory safety measures for workers were followed.
Police said they arrested five persons, including the owner of the metal processing factory, within 48 hours and are investigating the matter thoroughly.
Additional superintendent of police (Crime), Cachar district, Rajat Pal, on Tuesday said that four of the accused were arrested from Cachar district, while the factory owner was apprehended in Guwahati on Monday.
He said a team from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Guwahati, is investigating the cause of the blast and is also assessing the kind of explosion that occurred on Sunday.
Match Outlook
The Commission said that the report is expected to include the status of the injured, as well as the disbursement of compensation to the next of kin of the deceased and to the injured workers.
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According to the police, Kade Global Infrastructure LLP was established in the area a few years ago and operates two units where scrap metal collected from different sources is processed. Sunday’s explosion occurred at the newer unit in Pangram, which was set up around a year ago.
