All the 12 officials of LG Polymers, who were arrested on Tuesday night, have been booked under relevant IPC Sections of negligence, including Section 304 part II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). The other Sections include 278, 284, 285, 337 and 338.
Speaking to The Hindu, Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar Meena, who led the investigation and was also part of the five-member High Power Committee (HPC), said the accused had been arrested as, during the course of investigation, it was found that the accident occurred due to their negligence and they were aware that any negligence on their part could cause human death.
All the arrested were sent to the Central Jail for 14 days remand after being produced before a judge through video-conference.
The HPC, which submitted its report to the Chief Minister on Monday, also stated that human negligence and serious lapses in safety and security had led to the accident.
The arrested were Sunkey Jeong, MD of LG Polymers India Limited; D.S. Kim, technical director; P. Poorna Chandra Mohan Rao, additional director (operations); K. Srinivas Kiran Kumar, HoD SMH; Raju Satyanarayana, team leader, production; Ch, Chandra Sekhar, engineer; K. Gowri Sankara Nagendra Ramu, engineer; M. Rajesh, operator; P. Balaji, night duty officer – operations; S. Atchyut, in-charge GPPS; K. Chakrapani, engineer; and K.V.N. Ramesh Patnaik, safety officer.
Suspended
Two officials of the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board – P. Prasada Rao, Regional Officer, and R. Lakshminarayana, previous Regional Officer – were suspended. Deputy Chief Inspector of Factories K.B.S. Prasad was also suspended.
“Their role has come under the scanner as the LG Polymers has been operating by flouting a number of norms, including not having the EIA clearance from the MoEF&CC,” said a senior police officer.
