Many feared trapped as 3 abandoned coal mines collapse in Jharkhand during illegal mining
Dhanbad (PTI): Many people were fear trapped as three abandoned coal mines collapsed during illegal mining in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district, officials said on Tuesday.
The first incident happened at Kapasara outsourcing project of Eastern Coalfield Limited (ECL) in Nirsa police station area around 5 pm on Monday, they said.
The second incident took place in Chach Victoriya of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) in Nirsa on Monday night, while the third incident happened on Tuesday morning at Gopinathpur open cast mines of the ECL in Panchet police station area, they said.
Rescue operations with heavy machinery are underway at the three mines, officials said.
The incidents happened during illegal mining and only the coal companies can specify the number of people trapped inside, said Superintendent of Police (Dhanbad-Rural) Reeshma Ramesan.
"I can't say the number of casualties and injured. We are verifying the details and would say after getting reports. Our teams have rushed there," she said.
Fearing police action, families of the illegal miners are yet to report to the authorities if there was any person missing, officials said.
Villagers also managed to rescue some of those who could come out of the debris, before the colliery officials or police reached the spot, they said.
An official of the ECL said the incident occurred at abandoned mines and so it falls in the purview of the district administration.
"Within our working mines, there is no such information (of collapse). That might be due to illegal activities in abandoned mines but not in our working mines," he said.
"We are not in a position to tell about the number of villagers trapped," he added.
Three people are feared trapped and five persons injured in In the Gopinathpur mine of the ECL, official sources said. In the Kapasara colliery of ECL, three persons are feared trapped and two persons injured, they said.
Several slippers were found at the entrance gates of the mines, indicating many were trapped.
The BCCL, however, said that it will share the details later.
In Chach Victoriya area of BCCL, three persons were feared trapped in debris after the roof collapsed during illegal mining, official sources said.
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Bengaluru: Four arrested for housebreaking, threats, extortion; fake PSI among accused
Bengaluru: Vidyaranyapura police have arrested four persons, including a man posing as a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI), for allegedly breaking into a house, threatening the occupants, and extorting money while wearing police uniforms.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mallikarjuna, Pramod, Vinay, and Hrithik.
Police said the accused had hatched a plan to pose as police personnel, conduct fake raids, and extort money from residents by intimidation.
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According to the police, Mallikarjuna had failed the PSI examination twice and later falsely projected himself as a PSI. He allegedly conducted photo shoots in his hometown, Siraguppa, wearing a police uniform, baton, cap, and shoes, claiming to be serving as a PSI in Bengaluru.
On December 7, the four accused allegedly went to the house of Naveen in the Vidyaranyapura limits, threatened him with a stick and an iron rod, and claimed they had information that he was selling ganja. Under the pretext of searching, they allegedly extorted ₹87,000 through bank transfer, ₹53,000 in cash kept in the house, and ₹2,000 from his wallet.
Following Naveen’s complaint, Vidyaranyapura police registered a case and launched an operation, leading to the arrest of all four accused. Police have seized ₹45,000 in cash and the car used to commit the crime.
Further investigation is underway.
