Muzaffarpur boiler blast: Factory owner, wife among 5 booked

Police have registered a case against five named and some unidentified people in connection with the boiler blast at a factory near Muzaffarpur on Sunday that left seven dead and 11 injured.

Kundan Kumar Singh, station house officer (SHO), Bela police station, said the owner of processed food and confectionery factory, Vikash Modi, his wife Shweta Modi, manager Uday Singh and supervisors Rahul and Digvijay have been made the named in the first information report (FIR) based on the statement of Prashant Kumar Shrivastava, regional in-charge of industrial area, Muzaffarpur.

“The case has been lodged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including for culpable homicide not amounting to murder,” said the SHO.

Muzaffarpur’s senior superintendent of police(SSP) Jayant Kant said no arrest had been made so far.

Meanwhile, doctors at Shrikrishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) said condition of the seven injured admitted to the hospital was out of danger.

Recuperating at SKMCH, the injured workers attributed poor maintenance and ignorance of safety measures as the cause of the accident. One of them, not willing to be identified, said they had complained to management several times about the malfunctioning of the boiler, to no avail.

According to victim Satyam Kumar, around 20 people were working in the factory when the incident occurred. “I was working near the boiler when a loud explosion took place. Hot water and debris fell on my body. Locals saved me,” said Satyam.

Labour resources minister Jivesh Mishra, who met the injured workers at SKMCH, said the accident was caused due to operational fault. “Prima facie, it appears so. Things would be clear after the investigation.” He said the factory where the blast occurred was given clearance certificate in May after the investigation by authorities.

Muzaffarpur’s district magistrate Pranav Kumar said financial compensation to families of three out of five deceased have been given already.