FIR filed against Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal in power plant blast case; death toll rises to 21

RAIPUR: Police have registered an FIR under sections related to causing death by negligence and negligent conduct with machinery in connection with the April 14 blast at Vedanta’s power plant in Chhattisgarh.Eight to ten individuals, including Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal and plant head Devendra Patel, have been named in the FIR, Sakti SP Prafull Thakur told PTI.A preliminary technical investigation into the blast has found that excessive fuel accumulation inside the boiler furnace led to a pressure build-up, which triggered the explosion, police officials said.A report by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Sakti also confirmed that fuel accumulation and the resulting excessive pressure were the primary causes of the explosion, they added.The death toll in the April 14 blast at Vedanta’s power plant in Chhattisgarh’s Sakti district has risen to 21 after a worker succumbed to injuries, officials said on Friday.The explosion occurred in a steel tube carrying high-pressure steam from the boiler to the turbine at the power plant located in Singhitarai village.A worker identified as Kismat Ali from Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli died at a private hospital in Raipur on Thursday night, Sakti superintendent of police Prafull Thakur told PTI.Officials said four workers died on the spot, while nine succumbed to injuries soon after the incident. Another seven died in hospitals on April 15.The deceased include six labourers from West Bengal, five from Chhattisgarh, three each from Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, and two each from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, they added.(With agency inputs)