Chief of Sigachi Arrested for Blast

Hyderabad: In a major development in the Sigachi Industries blast incident on June 30, which killed over 50 people, the Sangareddy police on Saturday arrested company managing director and chief executive officer Amit Raj Sinha and produced him before a magistrate who remanded him to judicial custody.

The arrest comes in the wake of a recent upbraiding of the police by the Telangana High Court which pulled up the police for lackadaisical approach to the investigations and action against those listed as accused in the case. The matter is expected to come before the court on December 30.

Sinha is accused no. 2 in the case, registered as a culpable homicide by the police, related to the massive explosion that killed 54 persons working at the Sigachi facility in the Pashamylaram industrial area of Patancheru in Sangareddy district.

While 46 workers and staff of the Sigachi unit died on the spot following a explosion on June 30, the bodies of eight workers were never recovered taking the toll to fifty four. The High Court, during the last hearing eearler this month, termed the Sigachi incident the worst industrial accident in the state.

Most of the dead workers were from Bihar, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Following the mishap, the BDL Bhanur police of Sangareddy district registered a cases under sections 105 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), and 117 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of the BNS following a complaint lodged by R. Sai Yashwanth whose father died in the expllosion.

In the FIR, the police named the Sigachi MD and CEO Amit Raj Sinha is accused No 2. Sigachi Industries has been named as the prime accused.

The government later formed an expert panel headed by Dr B. Venkateswar Rao, emeritus scientist of IICT, Dr T. Pradeep Kumar, Dr M. Suryanarayanan, Dr Santosh Ghuge, Nilesh Ukunde, to assess compliance with safety protocols and recommending measures to prevent such tragedies in the future.

The committee visited the factory site, collected details from workers, Sigachi representatives and others and submitted a comprehensive report finding fault with the Sigachi management for failing to take precautionary measures.

The committee also found that the regular maintenance was poor in terms of staff and employees safety by the management.

Following Sinha’s arrest, Sigachi on Sunday released a statement stating that the police registered an FIR against Sinha and others under certain provisions of the BNS Act and as per procedure, he was presented before the appropriate court and was remanded to judicial custody.

"We are cooperating fully with the legal process while also ensuring that our rights under the law are respected. We will keep all concerned parties informed as and when there are meaningful developments in the case, subject to legal advisories given the matter is subjudice," Sigachi said in a news release.

The Telangana High Court at its hearing on December 10 had pulled up the investigation officer (IO) — deputy superintendent of police of Patancheru — and asked why the inquiry team had failed to examine the role of statutory authorities whose neglect of mandatory inspections may have led to the Sigachi pharma blast.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the presentation of the case by the IO and state government, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin had appointed Dominic Fernandes, High Court advocate, as amicus curiae.

The court had asked if the probe team was :facing any kind of pressure…:

The Chief Justice bench had cautioned that a routine investigation of witnesses without examining the culpable omission by the authorities of ESI, PF, factories, fire, labour, revenue department and others would not be tolerated.

There are statutory authorities who are supposed to inspect and to ensure compliances. If they have failed… they must not go scot-free. That would send a message to the rest, the Chief Justice had bench said.

The court asked what the authorities were doing when more than 90 workers were in the factory , whereas records showed only around 50 workers.

On the payment of compensation of `1 crore for the family of each victim promised by the Sigachi management. Vasudha Nagraj, counsel for the petitioner in the PIL, said that temporary, casual and contract workers had not been paid beyond `.25 lakh; permanent employees had been paid between `.45 lakh and `55 lakh.

She sought a direction to the government to furnish the FIR copies which were registered with regard to the eight workers who were listed missing.