A month on, no breakthrough in Shivamogga blast case

More than a month after a blast at quarrying site claimed six lives in Hunasodu near Shivamogga, the authorities concerned are yet to act on the errant officials. Two officials had been suspected in connection with an identical incident at Chikkaballapur on Tuesday.

While the police claim that they have been probing the case from various angles, action has not been initiated against anyone till now.

The prolonged probe has led to suspicion among people that the government was trying to shield culprits involved in the incident.

A prominent leader of BJP told DH on the condition of anonymity that the government was protecting the culprits as a majority of those involved in illegal stone mining activities belong to the ruling party.

He said there is an association of illegal stone quarry owners led by a BJP leader in the district. So, the police are unlikely to initiate action against them. The district administration has suspended crusher units after the incident. But it did not initiate action against those operating them.

Tunganagar police sub-inspector had seized a huge quantity of explosives in August last year. But the officer did not register a cse against the persons involved.  “I wrote to the Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai seeking action against a police officer. But it did not happen,” the BJP leader said. 

Meanwhile, KPCC spokesperson Kimmane Ratnakar has demanded the government to order a judicial inquiry into the incident to bring the culprits to justice.

Speaking to DH, he said the government was protecting the people responsible for the incident as licensed contractors are either the close aides of the legislators or ministers of the ruling party.

“Many times, they do Benami transactions of mining activities. Neither the deputy commissioner nor the SP will bring out the truth. So, the government must appoint a probe panel headed by a sitting high court judge at the earliest and uncover the dark side of mining activities in the district,” he urged. 

Meanwhile, the police team, probing the case, has discovered that not just two vehicles but five, including a bike, were burnt in the incident. The officials of the regional transport authority, who visited the blast site, gathered spare parts of the vehicles. The chassis numbers of vehicles had too had been found out. 

This has led to suspicion that the death toll in the incident might have increased. So, far, the police have claimed that six persons were killed in the incident. Eight persons have been arrested so far. 

Speaking to DH, Deputy Commissioner K B Shivakumar said the probe into the incident was in progress and a report would be submitted to the government soon.