Surat/Palsana: Five persons, including the factory owner, manager, in-charge, engineer and drum operator of Santosh Textile Mill in Jolwa village of Palsana, have been arrested on charges of culpable homicide following the drum washer blast on September 1 that claimed nine lives and injured 13 workers.

The explosion occurred when a drum washer burst during operations, killing two workers on the spot. Seven more succumbed to their injuries during treatment in the following days. Police investigations revealed that safety norms were violated in the mill, leading to the tragedy.

Acting on the complaint of injured worker Ravindra Kumar Mahesh Dhaneshwar, originally from Samastipur, Bihar, police registered a case against five accused:

• Mukund Mohanlal Khaitan, mill owner (Surat, originally from Uttar Pradesh)

• Kanaiyalal Pokarmal Choudhary, mill manager (Jolwa, originally from Rajasthan)

• Alpesh Tarabhai Patel, in-charge (Chalthan, Arvalli)

• Anmol Sukhnandi Shahu, drum operator (Tatithiya, originally from Madhya Pradesh)

• B.P. Vishwanath Chaubey, engineer (Chalthan, originally from Uttar Pradesh)

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All five were booked for culpable homicide and sent to Lajpore jail.

Earlier, families of the deceased workers staged a road blockade at Udhna Darwaja in Surat demanding justice and alleging attempts to shield the mill owner. Following the protests and political pressure, police intensified their probe and summoned those responsible for questioning before making the arrests.

Police said the accused showed gross negligence by failing to follow safety protocols in the drum section of the mill, directly leading to the fatal incident.

The investigation is ongoing. DeshGujarat