An FIR has been registered against stone dealer Krishna Saha and others at Ranga police station in connection with the death of two laborers during illegal mining in Chapande mountain of Patna zone of Sahibganj district on Friday night. However, illegal mining has not been mentioned in the FIR. In the FIR, the reason for the death of the laborers has been attributed to the fall of stones and soil while working carelessly. Along with this, there has been an allegation of removing the dead bodies without informing the police after the accident.
In the FIR registered under sections 304A, 279, 120B, 201 and 34 of the IPC, stone traders Krishna Saha, Shambhu Saha, Upendra Mandal and others have been made accused. In this, in order to cover up the death of the laborers, it has been mentioned that at the behest of Krishna Saha, removal of the dead bodies from the spot and talking to their relatives.
According to the FIR lodged at the Ranga police station, on July 1, the station in-charge informed the senior police officers after receiving information about the accident in Krishna Saha’s mine. Patna’s CO Suman Kumar Saurabh and District Mining Officer Vibhuti Kumar also reached the spot. The officers inspected the spot. Inside the mine, broken stones were found 70-80 feet below and sunken soil from above.
No body was found on the spot and no injured laborer was found. Krishna Saha was contacted on the phone but he did not pick up the call. During interrogation, Indrajit Poddar, who was present at Krishna Saha’s crusher, told that two laborers had died while working at night. Shapath Mandal worked as a drill helper and Mithun Kumar as a drill operator. After the incident, after talking to the relatives of both, the dead bodies were handed over to them, so that no one could get the information about the death of the laborers.
At the behest of Krishna Saha, the dead bodies were removed from the mine by Shambhu Saha, Munshi Pawan Mandal and others. When the matter came to light, Mithun Pal’s body was handed over to the police by his relatives. His body has been sent for postmortem in Sahibganj. On the other hand, the dead body of the laborer’s oath-taking board was cremated by his relatives without informing the police.
Zonal officer did not get evidence of drill
The CO of Patna along with the station in-charge and DMO inspected the spot. They found stones and soil cracked from above at the spot. Everyone expressed apprehension that the laborers may have died due to this. This is still a matter of investigation. No evidence of illegal mining or drilling was found during the inspection. Two laborers have died in the incident. The dead body of a laborer has been brought here from West Bengal.
Mithun’s body sent for forensic examination
The police of Ranga police station sent Mithun Pal’s body to Sahibganj Sadar Hospital for post-mortem on Sunday. A three-member medical board was formed, in which Dr. Mohan, Dr. Vijay, Dr. Kuldeep were included. The post-mortem was done in the presence of Magistrate Abdul Samad. It was decided to get the post-mortem of the dead body done by a forensic expert. Preparations were being made to send the dead body to the Higher Center for postmortem.
Details of the dead:
Shapath Mandal (Drill Helper), Father- Prafulla Mandal, Opposite Ganeshpur Middle School, Barharwa, Sahibganj À Mithun Kumar Pal (Drill Operator), Father- Nabo Pal, Sakin-Gujharia, Mahantpada, District- Murshidabad
Trying to cover up the business case giving nine lakh compensation
The relatives of the deceased are saying that he died after colliding with a dumper during illegal mining. The younger brother of deceased laborer Mithun has also accepted the fact of having an agreement to give nine lakh rupees as compensation. Efforts are still being made to cover up the case of death during illegal mining. The people of stone trader Krishna Saha are talking about the death of the relatives of the dead laborers by crushing them with a dumper.
Vrindavan Pal, the younger brother of deceased laborer Mithun Kumar Pal of West Bengal, is also repeating the same story. When asked about the incident, he said that it was 8:30 in the night. It was getting dark. A dumper was bringing goods from above. Meanwhile his light fell on Mithun’s eye. He collided with the dumper and died due to being buried. After the death, the body was taken from the company vehicle. He said that in the case of compensation, there has been talk on nine lakh rupees. Some advance has also been received.
