A tragic industrial accident caused by four migrant workers to die at the factory has sent Cachar Police to arrest five people, including Rakesh Kumar Surana, chairman of KADE Global Infrastructure LLP. The blast happened at the rod manufacturing and metal processing unit of the company in Pangram of Udharband constituency. The high-pressure blast, which was originally believed to have been caused by a gas cylinder explosion or molten metal failure, ripped through the entire company’s facility, killing four workers from Tripura and wounding others and leaving several others injured instantly, according to the local police.
The arrests were made by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who ordered a thorough investigation into the tragedy. Along with Surana, police also arrested the factory manager Amir Chand Jahangir and three other key employees. A specialized team from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) went to the site of the blast to collect the evidence of the damages, as well as the technical failures that caused the disaster.
The incident has triggered widespread anger and local protests, and residents and family members are demanding the plant to be shut down permanently, since the factory has a history of negligence and safety concerns and previous safety complaints about it in the densely populated locality. The Assam government was quick to react to the situation and made an ex gratia financial assistance of ₹5 lakh to the family of each deceased worker. Udharband MLA Rajdeep Goala, accompanied by Cachar Deputy Commissioner Rahul Kumar Gupta and Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar Saikia, went to the bereaved families and assured them that the state will be behind them in any way.
There is now a full four-pronged investigation going on, including police, magisterial, and labor department, administration officials said in a statement. The authorities have assured the public that strict action against anyone who has violated industrial safety standards or violated basic worker protection laws will take place.
