Gujarat: Four booked after three labourers die of asphyxiation at illegal coal mine
Four persons have been booked under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 54 for abetting the crime of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
Four persons were booked after three labourers died of asphyxiation at an illegal coal mine in Surendranagar district of Gujarat on Saturday, police said.
Police have registered a case against four individuals for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Dharmendrasinh Chudasama, police sub-inspector, Muli Police station, where a first information report (FIR) has been registered, stated that efforts are underway to apprehend the accused.
The victims have been identified as Lakshman Dabhi (35), Khodabhai Makwana (32), and Viram Keraliya (35). They were engaged in digging at a mine near Bhet village in Thangadh taluka when the incident occurred.
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Four persons have been booked under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 54 for abetting the crime of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The police official said that the state’s revenue and mining department had previously cracked down on illegal mining activities in the area. They had filled up an illegal coal mine that was dug on government wasteland in Bhet village.
Despite these efforts, the accused allegedly attempted to reactivate the mine by excavating the closed pits.
The incident unfolded when one of the labourers, working at a considerable depth of approximately 60-70 feet in one of the closed bunkers, encountered a pocket of toxic gas and lost consciousness due to asphyxiation.
Two other workers who attempted to rescue their colleague also succumbed to the poisonous fumes.
According to the FIR, the father of one of the victims, Lakshman Dabhi, alleged that his son had been working at the coal mine for the past 15 days after being engaged by the accused.
He claimed that while the workers were paid ₹700 daily but they were not provided with any safety equipment like helmets, the FIR said.
