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Dynamite blast in illegal stone quarry leaves 16 dead in Jharkhand

Sixteen people were killed in a dynamite blast on Thursday at an illegal stone quarry in Lipipara area within Shikaripara…

Dynamite blast in illegal stone quarry leaves 16 dead in Jharkhand

Dynamite blast in Lipipara area.

Sixteen people were killed in a dynamite blast on Thursday at an illegal stone quarry in Lipipara area within Shikaripara police station limits of Jharkhand, near the Birbhum border.

Three bodies could be retrieved from the debris by the police with the help of local villagers, out of which one person is a resident of Birbhum. Rescue work was in progress till late in the evening.

Sources said that several hundreds of villagers of Birbhum used to work in illegal stone quarries in Shikaripara area of Jharkhand, situated near the Mohammad Bazar block of Birbhum district.

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On Wednesday night, the labourers went for stone excavation work when the explosives kept inside the ground blasted accidentally. The three dead persons identified as Bimal Bhandarai of Mathmahulla village in Mallarpur block of Birbhum, Jadob Roy and Laden Sheikh of Pakur district in Jharkhand were taken to Rampurhat Health District Hospital.

The owner of the illegal stone quarry, Baidynath Mondal of Kapasdanga village under Mohammadbazar police station area of Birbhum, is absconding and his cell phone was found to be switched off.

Rampurhat police have picked up four persons, including a village police official, Kartik Chandra Mondal, in connection with the incident and have started interrogating them.

The tribal people blocked the road in protest and alleged that the stone quarry mafias are hand in glove with the police and patronised by the ruling party leaders, which is why no measures are ever taken against them.

Dr. Ramchandra Dom, veteran CPM leader and former MP, has demanded a high-level investigation into the incident and punishment for the guilty. “If the people of the villages have been getting so much job from the highly developed local gram panchayats, why have they been risking their lives to earn their bread,” he said.

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