Toll in Jharkhand mines mishap rises to 5, many still feared trapped
Dhanbad(PTI): The death toll in the mines collapse in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district rose to five as one more body was recovered, with many people still feared trapped inside, police said on Wednesday.
The government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the mishap at the Gopinathpur abandoned mines of Eastern Coalfield Ltd (ECL) in Nirsa police station area during illegal mining by locals, they said.
The SIT will be headed by Superintendent of Police (Dhanbad-Rural) Reeshma Ramesan, they added.
Sanjiv Kumar, the Senior Superintendent of Police (Dhanbad), said authorities found no signs of any collapse at the Kapasara mines of ECL and Chach Victoriya project of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL).
"The incident occurred only at the Gopinathpur mines of ECL where five bodies have been retrieved from the debris. All five bodies -- four women and a man -- have been identified," he said.
At least 24 persons have died due to mishaps during illegal mining at ECL's mines in Nirsa in the last four years, officials said.
The district administration has sought mines safety audit report of ECL, a subsidiary of PSU Coal India, from Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), SSP Kumar said.
An ECL official they have filed a complaint at Nirsa police station against unknown people over illegal mining. Unauthorised entry to abandoned mines is prohibited and security has been sought from the administration, he said.
BJP's Nirsa MLA Aparna Sengupta demanded that a murder case be lodged against the ECL officials for the loss of lives.
Hitting out at the Hemant Soren government, she said that such incidents have increased during the present regime.
Former Nirsa MLA Arup Chatterjee of Marxists Coordination Committee (MCC) claimed that at least a dozen villagers have lost their lives in the incident.
"Illegal coal mining is being done at such a large scale for the first time in Nirsa area collieries of ECL. Without the involvement of ECL management, CISF and local police, such large-scale illegal coal mining is not possible," he alleged.
Former Chief Minister Raghubar Das demanded compensation and jobs for the kin of those killed.
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Raze Aurangzeb’s grave, call Nitish and Naidu when it happens: Uddhav Thackeray
Mumbai, Mar 18 (PTI): Slamming the BJP for raking up a “400-year-old issue”, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said the government should raze Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb in Maharashtra’s Khultabad.
Thackeray was speaking to reporters in Vidhan Bhawan premises, a day after protests against Aurangzeb's tomb triggered violence in Nagpur, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ home town.
“Raze Aurangzeb’s tomb immediately, but do call Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu when that happens,” Thackeray said. He slammed the BJP-led government for raking up a "400-year-old" issue.
Observers said the reference to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Naidu and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar - both key BJP allies – was in the backdrop of the importance of Muslim votes for Naidu’s TDP and Nitish Kumar’s JDU in elections in their states.
“If BJP has any issue with green colour, it should remove the green colour from their flag,” Thackeray said. “You tried to malign our party’s saffron flag and try to teach us Hindutva,” he added.
Thackeray said Aurangzeb was born in Gujarat and was vanquished and died in Maharashtra.
Shiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray said that the BJP is "shameless" as the violence took place in the hometown of CM Fadnavis.
"Sadly, when the BJP cannot govern, they resort to violence, riots and this is their set formula in every state. They are trying to dig up the history of someone who lived 300-400 years ago, but they cannot speak about the future. They cannot speak about the present,” he said.
Aditya Thackeray accused the BJP of orchestrating the tomb controversy to distract from the state government's failures. He claimed the BJP was trying to "make a Manipur of Maharashtra".
