Police still clueless about owner’s whereabouts
PANIPAT: More than 10 days after eight labourers, including three women, were burnt to death in a fire that broke out at a blanket-manufacturing unit at Kurar village on the outskirts of Panipat, the district police have failed to arrest the factory owner.
Despite a special investigation team (SIT) formed to probe the case, cops still have no clue about the whereabouts of accused Vijay Kumar Gupta, who has been booked under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“Despite conducting raids, we have no information about AV Spinning Mills owner Vijay Gupta and his family members”, Sanauli police station incharge Subhash Kumar told HT.
Police sources said the November 25 blaze occurred due to a short circuit. The labourers — who were working in subhuman conditions as later found by HT — were trapped inside in the absence of an emergency exit. The victims included Lajwanti (50), Shabnam (47), Sanno (18), Vinod (20), Ram Chander (45), Ajit Singh (40), Sombir (45) and Triloki (40).
Panipat deputy commissioner Chander Shekhar Khare said the unit was not registered under the factory act. He said the district administration has submitted its report to the higher authorities and labour department. Following the incident, the district authorities had decided to conduct a survey of all such units in the district to check if these were following safety and labour norms.
As per sources in the district administration, of over 10,000 small, medium and micro industries in the district, only 2,000 are registered. Also, of around 2 lakh factory workers in the city, only 36,000 are registered under the labour act.