Tragic Gas Leak at Palghar Pharma Factory: Four Dead, Legal Case Filed

Palghar, Aug 22 (PTI): Following a tragic nitrogen gas leak at a pharmaceutical factory in Palghar, Maharashtra, which resulted in the deaths of four workers and left two injured, authorities have filed a legal case against four senior staff members of the company, an official reported on Friday.

The Boisar police have initiated a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section 105, addressing "culpable homicide not amounting to murder," against the executives of the pharma firm. “They have been named in the FIR,” an official stated, adding that while the investigation is ongoing, no arrests have been made yet.

The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon at Medley Pharma, situated on plot number 13 of the Boisar Industrial Estate, approximately 130 kilometers from Mumbai. Vivekanand Kadam, the head of Palghar district disaster management cell, informed PTI that there was a nitrogen reaction tank leak at approximately 2:30 pm to 3 pm, which critically affected six workers.

The affected workers were immediately transported to Shinde hospital, where sadly, four succumbed to the incident around 6:15 pm. The deceased have been identified as Kalpesh Raut (43), Bengali Thakur (46), Dheeraj Prajapati (31), and Kamlesh Yadav (31), while 36 workers were confirmed to have been on site at the time of the incident.

The condition of the other two injured workers, Rohan Shinde (35) from Boisar and Nilesh Hadal (37) from Dahanu, remains critical, and they are being closely monitored in the ICU, according to hospital officials on Thursday.

Following the tragedy, local police and the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health visited the scene to conduct initial investigations. “A probe is underway to ascertain if there were any safety protocol lapses during the ongoing processes,” said an official. Further technical evaluations of the nitrogen tank are expected to uncover the specific cause.