Three Vedanta officials booked after engineer's death

NEW DELHI: Three officials of Vedanta’s Met Coke division in Goa have been booked for negligence and endangering life of a 31-year old assistant manager Umesh Kumar Pradhan who died on Monday.

The engineer a native of Odisha died from after he was trapped in the coal bearing conveyor belt in the factory located at Amona, 25 km from Panaji.

The Bicholim Police on Tuesday blamed shift in-charge Dinesh Kamat, maintenance head Adhip Pai and head of value added business Navnath Vhatte for the fatal accident in its First Information Report.

It said, on the given date and time, the “above noted holding various positions at Vedanta Ltd, Amona, compelled Umesh Kumer Pradhan to work beyond working hours, without following Standard Operating Procedure mandated by the company and without providing adequate safety measure” despite knowing that the conveyor belt was at “a lesser illuminated area” and could endanger his life. The three officials have been booked under section 336 (endangering life) and 304-A (negligence) of the India Penal Code.

In statement issued by the company earlier, Chief Operating Officer of Sesa Goa Iron Ore Sauvick Mazumdar said, “All of us are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague Umesh Pradhan. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this most difficult time. We are providing all possible support to the family... People are our most valuable assets.”