Case Against 5 For Giving Wrong Information About Labourer’s Death In Balaghat

Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh): The district police have registered a criminal case against five persons in connection with the death of a labourer in a manganese mine after a huge stone fell on him on February 10 this year. The people against whom the case was registered included the mine owner, a contractor, a foreman, a supervisor and the father of the labourer for giving information to the police about the death.

A labourer Ayush Lilhare died after a huge stone fell on him on the night of February 10 when he was working in the mine located in the Pandharwani area under Tidori police station. There were reports that the mine owner and the contractor allegedly mounted pressure on the family members of Lilhare to change their statements on his death.

Assistant sub-inspector of Tidori police station Umesh Diyewar said the father of Lilhare told the police that his son had died after he fell from a Mahua tree that he was cutting. Nevertheless, after the postmortem of the body, it came to light that the labourer had died because of internal injuries due to the fall of something heavy on him.

The body had the particles of dust of the mine, the PM report said. When the case was probed again, it came to light that Lilhare died when he was working in the mine. Those who were working with Lilhare on the night of February 10 also informed the police that the accident occurred after a huge stone fell on him.

So, the reports submitted by the owner of the mine and the statement given by Lilhare’s father to the police were found to be untrue. After the postmortem report, when the police questioned Lilhare’s father again, he changed his previous statement saying that his son died due to the fall of a stone on him. During the inquiry, the police came to know that there were barely any safety measures for workers inside the mine.