Vizag gas leak: LG Polymers CEO, 2 directors and 8 other officials held

Andhra Pradesh police arrested 12 employees of LG Polymers, including two Koreans - Sunkey Jeong, MD & CEO and DS Kim, technical director, in connection with the gas leak mishap.

The May 7 styrene leak from the LG Polymers India plant near Gopalapatnam in Visakhapatnam outskirts had killed 12 people and hospitalized 585 locals. Three more people succumbed because of the effect later. 34 animals also died.

Pitchuka PC Mohan Rao, additional director (operations) is among the 10 others arrested on Tuesday, including night duty officer, engineers, safety officer.

“Investigation disclosed that the incident at M6 styrene storage tank took place because of the negligence of the above persons who have knowledge that such acts are likely to cause death,” the police stated. The accused would be sent for judicial remand.

The case is registered in the Gopalapatnam police station under IPC sections 304-II, 278, 284 etc.,

The arrests come a day after a high-level committee chaired by Neerabh Kumar Prasad, AP’s special chief secretary (environment, forests) submitted a voluminous report of 4000 pages on the incident to chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy.

The report concluded management’s slackness, staff’s insufficient knowledge and poor design of styrene tank, poor safety protocols as among the core causes of the mishap, which it said qualifies as a major accident under the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical (MSIHC) rules.

Speaking to DH, Prasad said that they have recommended shifting of the LG plant away from the densely populated area. The gas leak took place at about 3 AM, when people of the five surrounding villagers were in deep sleep.

The Jaganmohan Reddy government has also suspended three officials – KVS Prasad, deputy chief inspector of factories, Visakhapatnam and two environmental engineers of the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board for dereliction of duties that allowed the mishap.