About a dozen people are feared trapped due to the collapse of an illegal and abandoned coal mine in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand on Wednesday. However, there is no official confirmation of the incident yet.
The incident is said to have occurred at Jamunia in Baghmara police station area of the district. The news about the incident broke when JD(U) MLA Saryu Roy posted on his social media handle that at least nine workers have died in the accident.
Locals said that many people were cutting coal inside the mine when water suddenly entered the mine and a large portion of it collapsed. Many people are said to be buried in the accident.
However, Dhanbad SSP Prabhat Kumar denied information of any such accident. According to the local police station there is no such accident. "We are trying to get more information on it," said the SSP.
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Ironically, despite the Dhanbad police denying the incident Jharkhand’s Health Minister Irfan Ansari has held BCCL responsible for the incident. The minister has clearly said that the matter is in his knowledge and he will also talk to the officials in this matter.
Ansari said that this incident is an incident that brings shame to the state. Our people are being killed. This incident is happening completely due to the negligence of BCCL. Innocents are being killed, he added.
He said that the matter has come to his notice. I have tweeted to the DC and SP and will also talk to them. I will clearly say that BCCL should be controlled. BCCL is doing illegal business there.
On the other hand, State BJP has also raised questions on the Jharkhand government and police administration regarding the whole matter. BJP state spokesperson Pratul Shahdev said that information is being received that illegal mining in Dhanbad's Baghmara has taken the lives of many people.
He said that illegal mining is at its peak in the state under this government. Due to this illegal mining, mines are continuously collapsing in Dhanbad. He demanded a CBI inquiry into this matter.
Shahdev said that when the state government knows that illegal mining is going on in that area and no action is taken against it due to the mining mafia, then these are murders. Action should be taken against the concerned police station in-charge and police officers.
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