KEONJHAR: Three persons reportedly involved in illegal excavation of minerals inside Bichakhandi Dalapahad forest under Baiarani reserve forest in Keonjhar district were buried alive after a landslide during digging, police said on Wednesday.
Although the incident took place on Tuesday afternoon, police and fire services teams recovered the bodies in the morning after overnight search operation.
The bodies have been preserved at the morgue of Tata Hospital.
The accident site is about 75 km from the Keonjhar district headquarters.
DIG of Police (Western Range) Brijesh Kumar Rai said police received the information about the landslide and trapping of three persons at about 7.30 pm on Tuesday following which the local police along with the help of fire services personnel and forest officials started the rescue operation.
The DIG said around 2 am in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday the first body was retrieved from the debris and few hours later the rest two bodies were recovered.
He said further investigation is underway and report from the forest department is awaited. The deceased persons have been identified as Sandeep Purty (32), Kande Munda (19) and Guru Champia (18), all of the nearby Bichakhandi village under Joda police limits.
The site is rich with manganese ore deposit and from circumstances it appeared the deceased were engaged in manual digging of ores. The landslide could have possibly occurred due to loosening of the top soil following days of intermittent rain.
Barbil SDPO Debendra Pingua said it was not immediately clear if more than three persons were present at the site during the incident. The police, however, got the information about the burying of three persons from the villagers.
Asked if any vehicle was present near the site during the mishap, the SDPO said the site inside the forest could not be accessed with vehicle. But illegal digging of minerals is suspected and report from the local forest authorities is awaited, he said.
Regional Chief Conservator of Forest P Ramaswamy said the divisional forest officer of Keonjhar has been asked to submit a detailed report.