A criminal case has been registered against an unknown person in connection with the fire incident in Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Limited (NLCIL), said Sree Abhinav, Cuddalore Superintendent of Police (SP).
"We have registered a criminal case against an unknown person and the investigation is taken up by DSP level officer instead of inspector and they will probe if there was any criminal negligence on the part of anybody in the power plant," said Abhinav.
"Yesterday we too heard about the increase in death numbers but when we enquired we got to know that the death toll is six as of now," he added.
Meanwhile, the Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Limited (NLCIL) on Wednesday announced that a high-level enquiry headed by a retired National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Director has been ordered into the fire incident in NLCIL.
NLCIL further said in a release that an internal enquiry committee with senior executives headed by NLCIL Director has also been constituted.
The Unit Head of Thermal Power Station-II where the fire broke out has also been suspended pending an inquiry. All four units of 210 MW each of TPS-II Stage-II have been shut down for safety audit.
"At around 9.45 am, in unit-five of Thermal Power Station-II, while it was under shut down and maintenance, a fire broke out in the boiler are subsequent to an explosion, resulting in injuries to the NLCIL maintenance team comprising one executive, two supervisors, three non-executive employees and 17 contract workmen. Out of the 23 injured, six contract workmen succumbed to the injuries on the spot," NLCIL said in a release.
"All the 17 injured were immediately rushed to NLCIL Hospital and 16 of them were then sent to Appollo Hospital in Chennai for further higher speciality treatment," it added.
( With inputs from ANI )