Sigachi Blast: Death certificates issued to eight missing victims six months after mishap

Six months after the Sigachi Pvt Ltd blast in Pashamylaram, Sangareddy officials issued death certificates to the families of eight missing victims. The move enables them to claim insurance, property rights, and compensation, amid concerns over delayed payouts

Sangareddy: The long wait of the kin of the eight persons, whose bodies remained untraced after June 30 blast at Sigachi Privated Limited in Pashamylaram industrial area, has ended as the officials issued death certificates to them exactly six months after the blast occurred on Monday.

The fight by Bharata Rhastra Samithi (BRS), Telangana Praja Sangala Joint Action Committee (TPJAC), Left Parties and other NGOs bore fruit as the officials presented the death certificates to their kin at Isnapur municipal office.

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The missing persons were Rahul Sharma, G Venkatesh, Silver Ravi, Irfan Ansari, S Justin, Vinay Kumar Nishad and Akilesh Kumar Nishad, whose kin had received the death certificates.

However, another person Shivji Kumar, a migrant worker from north India, would receive the certificate on Tuesday as their family members left for Hyderabad from their native place.

Akilesh and Vinay were siblings. Accompanied by TPJAC district chairman Y Ashok Kumar, the kin met the officials at Isnapur municipal office.

Speaking on the occasion, the victims said they could not claim benefits such as insurance and transfer of properties on their names due to lack of death certificates until today. They said that they would initiate the process now. They further alleged that there was delay in issuing Rs.1 crore compensation to them.

While the Sigachi management had given Rs 40 to Rs 50 lakhs to the deceased, whose bodies were recovered at the blast site, the management had given only Rs 25 lakhs to eight missing persons families. The family members met Collector P Pravinya a week ago complaining about the discrimination. The kin hoped that they would receive the entire compensation amount soon.

The death certificates were issued just 36 hours after the Sigachi MD and CEO Amitraj Sinha were arrested on Saturday night. Since a public interest litigation filed by social activists would be heard by the High Court shortly, the officials have fast tracked the process.