SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Sept 21: An FIR has been lodged in the East Basuriya OP against six senior officers of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) and outsourcing company Hilltop High Rise for the Gondudih colliery mishap in which three women of nearby basti were buried alive in the colliery road crater.
East Basuriya OP-in-charge Upendra Kumar said that on a written complaint of victim Mandwa Devi’s son Azad Kumar Rajak, an FIR has been lodged against BCCL Kusunda Area General Manager (GM) VK Goel, Project Officer(PO) Vishnu Kant Jha, Manager Dilip Kumar Singh, ex-PO Tuneswer Paswan, outsourcing company Hilltop High Rise owner and its manager.
On Sunday afternoon, three women of Chotki Bouwa Dhobi Kulhi Basti got buried alive on the colliery road of the Gondudih project when the land under their feet caved in all of a sudden and they fell into the crater.
The complainant has charged that his mother and two other women, who were returning to Basti after attending the call of nature died due to lapses of the colliery management who ignored safety measures.
“On the basis of the complaint, the police have started an investigation of the incident,” said East Basuriya OP-in-charge Upendra Kumar.
Meanwhile, the family members of the victim women withdrew their agitation with bodies after 44 hours on Wednesday evening. The BCCL officials agreed to pay Rs 6 lakh each and a job in the outsourcing company.
The victims’ family members had held up bodies for post-mortem since Monday night (when the last body was brought out from the crater by the rescue team). The agitators were demanding compensation of Rs 20 lakh each and a job in BCCL.
However, after a series of negotiations in the evening of Wednesday agitators agreed to accept compensation of Rs 6 lakh and a job in the outsourcing company.
In the presence of Baghmara block Circle Officer (CO) Ravi Bhushan Prasad and Inspector Pankaj Kumar Jha, Kusunda Area manager personnel Atul Sharma on the spot paid Rs 1 lakh to each family and assured to set up a committee to rehabilitate the basti residents at a safe place.
