Bhilai Steel Plant blast: CEO removed, 2 other suspended
Raipur, Oct 10: The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Bhilai Steel Plant was removed and two other senior officials were suspended Wednesday, a day after a blast at the plant which claimed the lives of 12 employees.
Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh announced the action against the officials after visiting the injured employees of the plant at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Hospital in Bhilai town, located around 30 km from here in Chhattisgarh.
CEO M Ravi was removed with immediate affect while General Manager (safety department) T Pandya Raja and Deputy General Manager (energy department) Naveen Kumar were suspended, Birender Singh told reporters.
Nine people were killed instantly and 14 others were injured in the gas pipeline blast at around 10.30 am Tuesday at the plant of the state-owned Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) in Durg district.
Two of the injured succumbed Tuesday late night while one more died Wednesday afternoon, taking the death toll to 12, Durg Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Shukla told PTI.
Now, 11 injured are undergoing treatment at the hospital, he added.
The union minister said two committees will conduct probe into the incident.
One internal committee of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has already been constituted to probe the incident on Tuesday, which has been asked to submit its report within seven days, he said.
Another committee will be formed by the Steel Ministry which will have experts from all over the country to ascertain that how the incident occurred and who were responsible for it, he said.
The union minister said the family of the deceased employees will get an ex-gratia of Rs 30 lakh each while the seriously injured employees will get Rs 15 lakh each.
A special permission was taken from the Election Commission for announcing the relief as the Model Code of Conduct is in place in the poll-bound Chhattisgarh, he said.
The ex-gratia given in case of death of employees has been increased from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh while for the seriously injured employees it has been hiked from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, Singh said.
Besides, the employees who have sustained minor injuries will get Rs 2 lakh each, he added.
The families of the deceased will get a cumulative amount under various heads from Rs 33 lakh to Rs 95 lakh, he said.
The families of the deceased can avail salary up to the retirement of the respective employee or a member can get compensatory appointment, the minister said.
The officials have been directed to provide the amount to the affected families as soon as possible, he added.
Earlier, Inspector General of Police (Durg Range) G P Singh said that after receiving the postmortem report of the deceased, a case under the Indian Penal Code Section 304 (A) (causing death by negligence) will be registered followed by an inquiry into the incident.
The explosion took place in the gas pipeline connected to the coke oven section of the plant during a maintenance job, the SAIL had said.
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Punjab: Blast near army cantt area in Amritsar, hours after explosion in Jalandhar
Chandigarh (PTI): An explosion occurred near the army cantonment area in Khasa late Tuesday night in Punjab's Amritsar, the second such incident which took place around three hours after a blast outside the headquarters of the Border Security Force's Punjab Frontier in Jalandhar.
According to the police, an investigation into both blast incidents is currently underway, and no injuries have been reported.
The first explosion happened around 8 pm in Jalandhar, while the second blast occurred at approximately 11 pm in Amritsar.
Amritsar (Rural) Senior Superintendent of Police Suhail Mir Qasim stated that police received reports of a loud sound at around 11 pm on a road in Khasa. "Our teams arrived on the scene immediately," he said.
Preliminary inspections indicated that someone had thrown an explosive device towards the boundary wall, leading to the explosion, according to the SSP.
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Police mentioned that a piece of a tin sheet covering the boundary wall had fallen as a result of the blast.
Following the explosion, a team of forensic and bomb disposal squad visited the site to collect samples.
Amritsar Rural Superintendent of Police Aditya S. Warrier, who also visited the scene, confirmed that further investigations are ongoing. Police added that a team of army officials also assessed the situation, after which the area was cordoned off.
CCTV footage from the vicinity shows the explosion occurring at night. A local villager reported that his family was awakened by the loud sound and came outside their home to see what had happened.
Before the Amritsar explosion, a blast took place outside the headquarters of the Border Security Force's Punjab Frontier in Jalandhar district around 8 pm on Tuesday, causing panic in the area.
CCTV footage captured the explosion, which resulted in a cloud of smoke. An unidentified man was seen running for cover following the blast.
The blast ripped apart a scooter, damaged a traffic signal pole and windowpanes of a nearby shop. Locals recounted that the scooter, which was parked outside the BSF headquarters, Punjab Frontier, caught fire shortly after a loud sound. It belonged to Gurpreet Singh, who regularly delivers parcels in the area.
Talking to reporters on Tuesday night, one of Gurpreet's relatives said that the scooter caught fire as he was approaching it. He immediately called his father and informed him about the incident.
Jalandhar Police Commissioner Dhanpreet Kaur confirmed to reporters late Tuesday that an Activa scooter parked near the gate caught fire suddenly. She stated that Gurpreet is fully cooperating with the investigation.
Witnesses nearby reported hearing a loud sound following the explosion.
On April 27, an explosion occurred at a freight corridor rail track in Shambhu in Patiala. Police had arrested four members of a pro-Khalistan terror module, backed by Pakistan's ISI, for the blast.
In light of these incidents, opposition parties have condemned the AAP government for its handling of the situation.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal criticised Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who also holds the home portfolio, over the recent blasts.
"Three blasts in 10 days, two in a single day, May 5: Jalandhar outside BSF headquarters and Sri Amritsar Sahib Army area, April 27: Rajpura rail track. Continued intelligence failures and the collapse of law and order are a matter of grave concern. Chief Minister @BhagwantMann, who is also the state Home Minister, is busy with mimicry and cheap politics. He has forfeited the right to remain in office," Badal said in a post on X.
Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring also slammed the Mann government over the two blasts.
"Back-to-back blasts have shaken Punjab. Yesterday in Jalandhar, and now near Khasa Camp in Amritsar, this is deeply alarming. Who is trying to destabilise our state? Why has the Punjab Government failed to prevent such incidents? What is the Government of India doing? Repeated lapses point to a serious breakdown of intelligence and security. Punjab's peace cannot be compromised. We demand accountability and immediate action," Warring said in a post on X.
