Director and manager of explosives factory held day after blast kills 6 workers

Nagpur, Jun 14 (PTI) Police on Friday arrested the director of an explosives factory along with its manager, a day after a blast at the unit located near Nagpur city killed six workers, an official said.

Jay Khemka (49), director of Chamundi Explosives Pvt Ltd, and factory manager, Sagar Deshmukh, were arrested and they will be produced in a court here later during the day, he said.

The factory is located in Dhamna village under Hingna police station limits, around 25 km from Nagpur city.

The blast occurred around 1 pm on Thursday. A total of nine injured persons were admitted to two private hospitals in the city, of whom

five women and a man died during treatment, the police earlier said.

Most of the victims were working in the factory’s packaging unit when the explosion took place, they said.

According to Hingna police station officials, a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance), 304 (a) (causing death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by doing any rash or negligent act) was registered against the director and the manager of the factory on Thursday night.

Subsequently, director Khemka, a resident of Ram Nagar in Nagpur, and manager Deshmukh were arrested, they added.