Two BJP leaders were among four booked after three labourers were allegedly asphyxiated while working in an alleged illegal coal mine in Gujarat’s Surendranagar district late on Saturday evening.
Dabhi was a resident of the Sangdhra village of Muli near Bhet, while Viram and Makwana were residents of Undvi.
Saradiya is the husband of Sajanben Saradiya, one of the members of Surendranagar district panchayat elected on a BJP ticket.
Parmar is the chairman of the executive committee of the BJP-ruled Muli taluka panchayat.
“The illegal coal mine is located at a remote place, around 45 kilometres away, and the accused were taking advantage of the remote location to reopen the mine,” the SI said.
Two BJP leaders were among four booked after three labourers were allegedly asphyxiated while working in an alleged illegal coal mine in Gujarat’s Surendranagar district late on Saturday evening.
The three victims were identified as Lakshaman Dabhi, 35; Viram Keraliya, 35; and Khoda Makwana, 32. Dabhi was a resident of the Sangdhra village of Muli near Bhet, while Viram and Makwana were residents of Undvi.
The police said they booked Khimji Saradiya, a resident of Raysangpar village in Muli taluka of Surendranagar, and Kalpesh Parmar, a resident of Kampala village adjoining Raysangpar, under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 54 for abetting the crime. Saradiya is the husband of Sajanben Saradiya, one of the members of Surendranagar district panchayat elected on a BJP ticket. Parmar is the chairman of the executive committee of the BJP-ruled Muli taluka panchayat.
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The police also booked Janak Aniyariya, a resident of Raysangpar, and Jasha Keraliya, a resident of Undvi, a village near Raysangpar but which falls in the adjoining Thangadh taluka of Surendranagar.
The offence against the four was registered at the Muli police station late on Saturday after three miners were allegedly exposed to gas while mining coal in the Bhet village near Raysangpar. The FIR registered at Muli station quotes Dabhi’s father Savshi as saying that his son had been working at the coal mine for the past 15 days after being engaged by the four accused. The accused were paying him Rs 700 as a daily wage but were not providing any safety equipment like a helmet, he alleged.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Sub Inspector (Muli) D D Solanki said on Sunday, “The revenue and mining department had cracked down on illegal mining and had filled up an illegal coal mine which was dug on government wasteland in the Bhet village. However, the accused got that mine opened again. The three labourers were cleaning the mine, around 60 feet below the surface, when they hit a cloud of poisonous gas trapped inside the mine and were asphyxiated.”
The SI said the three labourers were affected by gas one after another. “One labourer fell unconscious while working the mine. Therefore, another went in that direction to rescue him, but he, too, was asphyxiated. The third one also went into that section of the mine to rescue his two coworkers. He was also affected,” Chudasama further said.
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The three were rushed to a hospital in Muli, where they were pronounced dead. “The illegal coal mine is located at a remote place, around 45 kilometres away, and the accused were taking advantage of the remote location to reopen the mine,” the SI said.
Hitendrasinh Chauhan, president of the BJP’s Surndranagar district, could not be contacted for a comment.
