Four die of suspected asphyxiation in illegal mine in Jharkhand

Four men died of suspected asphyxiation while allegedly mining in an unauthorised 40-foot-deep mine on forest land in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district. Police suspect oxygen deficiency caused the deaths and have launched an investigation into the incident

Ramgarh/ Ranchi: At least four persons died of suspected asphyxiation while allegedly carrying out mining in a 40-foot-deep unauthorised mine in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh district on Saturday, police said.

The incident took place in forest land near Argada within Ramgarh police station jurisdiction. Ramgarh police station in-charge Naveen Prakash Pandey said all four bodies were recovered from the mine and sent for postmortem examination.

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“Prima facie, it appears that they died due to oxygen deficiency inside the mine. The incident is being probed,” Pandey told PTI. The deceased have been identified as Deva Bediya (30), Dablu Bediya (36), who hailed from Chhotki Tongi village under Giddi police station limits of Hazaribag district, Kishore Ravani (33) and Ashish Kumar Natwar, both hailing from Budh Bazaar of Ramgarh district, he said.

General manager of Central Coalfields Limited’s (CCL) Argada area, Satyajit Kumar, told PTI that the incident site is outside the command area of CCL. He said the four villagers fainted due to reported oxygen deficiency in the nearly 40-feet deep unauthorised mine outside the CCL leasehold area in a forest land.

“They were taken to a hospital in Ramgarh, where doctors declared them brought dead,” he added. Reacting to the incident, the BJP accused the Ramgarh district administration of negligence and demanded strict action against those responsible.

State BJP president Aditya Sahu said Chief Minister Hemant Soren had recently reviewed the mining department and issued strict instructions to curb illegal mining activities.

“Even before this, the chief minister and the DGP repeatedly have spoken about taking stringent action against illegal mining. However, there is no visible impact of the CM’s directive anywhere in the state, and mafias continue to run their empires,” Sahu said in a statement.

He said the state government should disclose what action have been taken against illegal mining operators.