Guwahati: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday initiated a suo motu inquiry into the deaths of four workers following a blast at a metal processing unit in Assam’s Cachar district on Sunday.
The Commission took up the matter after reports raised concerns over workplace safety. Families of the victims said molten metal fell on the workers after the explosion, while locals alleged that similar incidents had occurred at the factory earlier.
The NHRC has asked the Assam chief secretary and Cachar SSP to submit a report within two weeks, including details of the injured workers and compensation provided to the victims’ families.
The blast killed four workers, including Sagar Nath from Agartala in Tripura. The other deceased were Appu Boraik (32), Kiron Munda (28) and Shyamal Gaur. Police said all four died on the spot.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced Rs 5 lakh compensation for each deceased worker’s family and said strict action would be taken if negligence was found.
Sarma said on X that industrial negligence would not be tolerated and strict action would be taken against any lapses.
Minister Kaushik Rai said a magisterial inquiry, a police investigation and a separate probe by the district labour commissioner have been ordered to check whether mandatory safety measures were followed.
Police have arrested five people, including the owner of the metal processing unit, in connection with the blast. Cachar Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Rajat Pal said four accused were arrested from Cachar, while the factory owner was held in Guwahati on Monday.
Pal said the accused were booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for negligence and other offences and were produced before a court.
The arrested persons were identified as Alok Kumar Tiwari (34) from Rewa, Madhya Pradesh; Rama Kant Singh (35) from Muzaffarpur, Bihar; Shamim Akhtar (35) from Chhapra, Bihar; Rakesh Kumar Surana (63) from Guwahati; and Amichand Jangir (62) from Udharbond.
Surana is the owner of Kade Global Infrastructure LLP, while the other four were part of the management of the company’s metal processing unit where the blast occurred.
Police said Kade Global Infrastructure LLP operates two units in the area for processing scrap metal collected from different sources. The explosion occurred at its newer unit in Pangram, which was set up around a year ago.
MLA Rajdeep Goala visited the site on Monday and met the victims’ families. He said a district-wide industrial safety audit has been ordered to review safety measures across industries.
Goala added that an FSL Guwahati team is investigating the cause of the blast and examining the nature of the explosion.