Harveer DabasBijnor: Two days after a blast in an ethanol manufacturing unit claimed seven lives in Bijnor’s Nagina town, police arrested deputy general manager ( DGM ) of Mohit Petrochemicals and sent him to jail on Friday. Its owner, Kuldeep Jain, has so far managed to evade arrest.Bijnor station house officer Bijendra Rana said, “Police have arrested DGM Suresh Panwar on Thursday night and sent him to jail on Friday. Factory owner Jain is at large and police are conducting raids on several places. He will soon be arrested.”Both owner and DGM had been booked under IPC section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) on Wednesday night. They were also slapped with IPC section 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) and 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance).A methane tank, with a capacity of over 20,000 litres, had exploded in the factory on Wednesday morning when labourers were carrying out welding work to seal a leak that had sprung in the tank containing methane. Seven labourers were killed and three suffered critical injuries. The injured were admitted to the district hospital for treatment. Their condition is stated out of danger.Crops in the nearby fields were also destroyed in the blast.According to sources, the tank was old and methane gas had been leaking out of it for sometime. Initially, the labourers had refused to weld the top of the tank but were forced to relent.On Thursday, a team led by sub-divisional magistrate, Bijnor, Brajesh Singh had sealed the chemical factory.Soon after the incident, administration had held a meeting with factory management over the issue. The owner had provided monetary help to the families of the deceased and promised to give a family member of each of those killed a job in his other factory.

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