Site in-charge held for Balco chimney collapse

The Korba police today made the first arrest in connection with the chimney collapse incident in Vedanta-controlled Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) that claimed 41 lives.

“The site in-charge of Gannon Dunkerly and Company Limited (GDCL), Manoj Sharma was arrested today in Korba after he was summoned for interrogation,” Korba Superintendent of Police Ratanlal Dangi told reporters. GDCL had bagged the Rs 60-crore contract to build the chimney in the power plant of Balco. The Chinese construction company, Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation (SEPCO), has been was awarded the work for setting up 1200-Mw power plant. The SEPCO and GDCL officials and employees had fled Korba soon after the incident on September 23 fearing backlash of the people. After being summoned by the Korba police, the officials have started returning to help the authorities in investigation.

The Korba police had registered a case under Section 304, 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) after the incident. The GDCL had granted power-of-attorney to Manoj Sharma. "Investigation into the matter is on and as it proceeds, more arrests will be made if the officials and employees associated with the project are found guilty," Dangi said. Some officials of the Chinese company have been interrogated. Police officials, however, declined to reveal the details stating that the investigation was in progress. Sources said that the police had seized the documents related to construction work from both the companies.