KEONJHAR: Ten days after the deadly ammonia gas leak claimed 17 lives, including 14 from Keonjhar alone, the district Labour department on Wednesday filed a case against Srikant Juanga, who allegedly recruited the tribal workers for the seafood processing factory in Tamil Nadu’s Thiruvallur district.
Srikant was booked after the Labour office filed complaints against him at several police stations in the district. The victims’ families had alleged that Srikant lured poor youths from the Juanga community with promises of employment and took them to Tamil Nadu. They said the victims had migrated in search of work due to financial hardship and a lack of local employment opportunities.
Divisional Labour officer Surya Narayan Mali said all 58 workers had been brought back to Keonjhar and their statements recorded. Two other workers remain on ventilator support. He confirmed that six of the 14 deceased workers were minors and had gone to Tamil Nadu at Srikant’s behest.
“The workers who returned have been counselled and advised against migrating to other states for work again,” Mali said, adding that the Tamil Nadu government had also initiated action against officials of the seafood processing plant following the gas leak. The main labour contractor, Suresh, was arrested by Thiruvallur police earlier this week.
The workers belonged to areas under the jurisdiction of Telkoi, Pandapada, Harichandanpur, Daitari, Kanjipani, Nayakote, Sadar and Town police stations in Keonjhar district. The role of the Labour Department has also come under scrutiny as it had no record of the workers’ migration despite many of them having been employed outside the state for a considerable period.