Three Vedanta officials booked after engineer's death

Three officials of Vedanta Limited's Met Coke division in a village near here were booked on Tuesday after an engineer died in the factory premises on Monday, police said.

According to a First Information Report filed at the Bicholim police station in North Goa district, Dinesh Kamat, shift in-charge, Adhip Pai, maintenance head and Navnath Vhatte, head of value added business of Vedanta Ltd have been booked under the Indian Penal Code's Sections 336 (endangering life) and 304-A (negligence) in connection with the death of Umesh Pradhan, who was value added business division.

The FIR states that Pradhan, 31, was "compelled" by the accused to work beyond working hours "without following standard operating procedure mandate by the company and without providing adequate safety measures".

Pradhan, a native of Orissa, died due to sustained bleeding, after he was trapped in a conveyor belt at a lesser illuminated area in the plant at Amona, 20 km from here, according to the FIR filed by police Sub Inspector Chetan Saulekar.

In a statement issued on Monday, Vedanta had called Pradhan's death an "unfortunate incident".

"All of us are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague Umesh Pradhan. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this most difficult time. We are providing all possible support to the family... People are our most valuable assets," the company's Chief Operating Officer Sauvick Mazumdar had said, adding that the cause of incident is being looked into.

--IANS

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