Promotion to the post of production in-charge at the Hetero Drugs Limited (HDL) brought happiness, though shortlived, to B Jayadheer Reddy.
Dreams of the ambitious and hard-working chemist from Sattupalli in Khammam district blew to bits after the reactor exploded at the bulk drug manufacturing unit at N Narsapuram near Nakkapalli on Saturday.
Eyewitnesses and Jayadheer’s colleagues told Express that they literally had to scrape the spattered remains of Jayadheer and another employee, K Tirupati off the walls and wash the blood-splattered floor.
“We had no idea which body part belonged to whom. We collected them and gave it to our higher ups who then handed them over to the police. We suspect there was at least one other person at the time of the incident,” said a chemist, recalling the nightmarish incident, on condition of anonymity, adding that the managers have urged them to clean the entire reactor with methanol.
An eerie calm prevailed at the bulk drug manufacturing unit and surrounding areas in Nakkapalli as policemen took control of the roads leading to the pharma special economic zone.
Though the company declared a holiday and stopped operations after 5 am on Sunday morning, a large number of employees along with trade union leaders and local public arrived at the spot, demanding Rs 20 lakh compensation for the families of the deceased.
However, police prevention to enter the unit forced them to leave the place dissapointed.