Alang observes 'shut-down' over arrest of ship-breakers

All the 135 ship breaking units in the Alang Ship Breaking Yard area in Bhavnagar district remained closed following a call by The Ship Recycling Industries Association India (SRIAI).

The police had arrested proprietors of Kiran Ship Breaking Company, namely, Ram Kishan Jain and Vipan Kumar Jain and their manager Rajesh Jugud in connection with the incident. Kiran Ship owns the plot where the Portuguese tanker was being dismantled when the accident took place.

Five persons had died on the spot while another one died in the hospital during treatment. One more injured person was recuperating in the hospital.

Police have registered an FIR against both of them and charged them with offences under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC, among others.

SRIAI has opposed the sections under which the three were charged with and demanded that they could be charged for negligence, under the section 304(A) of the IPC.

"This is not the first incident when a ship-breaker has been arrested for an accident on his plot. But we are opposed to the IPC section under which they been charged for the present incident," SRIAI, president, Vishnu Gupta said.

He said that previously the ship-breakers were charged for negligence and not culpable homicide.

"We are opposed to their charging them for culpable homicide," Gupta said, adding that the association has also submitted memorandum to the district collector and SP demanding that the charges of culpable homicide be dropped against the owners.

Though no incidents of violence was reported from the ship breaking yard, a team of over 50 policemen headed by a DySP was stationed there as a precaution, police said.

"Ship breaking yard at Alang had recorded highest number of ships, 415, for breaking during the fiscal ended March 31, 2012," said Joint Secretary SRIAI Nikhil Gupta.

He also said that 185 units of Re-Rolling Association, 29 units of Furnace Association and other ancillary businesses also remain closed today.

"If our demands are not met then we will continue our call tomorrow as well," he said.