Jharkhand: Probe ordered into collapse of closed mine as local MLA claims 2 dead

Dhanbad: The administration in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district is constituting a team to probe into the collapse of an abandoned coal mine, following the claim of a local MLA that two persons were killed in the incident, police said on Monday.

The incident occurred at Kapasara colliery of the Mugma area under the jurisdiction of Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), about 35 km from Dhanbad town, Nirsa legislator Aparna Sengupta and eyewitnesses claimed.

Sengupta and some locals also claimed that two bodies were recovered and many others were trapped after the abandoned mine caved in, while illegal mining was going on.

However, ECL spokesperson Arpan Ghosh said so far the authorities don't have any information in this regard.

'It should be enquired by the district administration as we have no such information so far,' he said.

'The administration is constituting a team to enquire into the incident as a report from ECL management has not mentioned any loss of life,' Dhanbad SSP Sanjiv Kumar told PTI.

The Nirsa MLAs alleged that illegal mining in the area is a 'regular affair but neither the local administration nor ECL management pays attention to stop such activities'.