The Deputy Commissioner (DC) and the Superintendent of Police (SP) of East Jaintia Hills district appeared before the Meghalaya High Court on Monday in connection with the February 5 explosion at an illegal coal mine that claimed 27 lives.
As per reports, the high court has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and sought details of actions taken. It further directed the two senior officials, DC Manish Kumar and SP Vikas Kumar to appear in person and apprise it of the action taken.
Speaking to the media, SP Vikash Kumar said they are awaiting further directions from the High Court, which is expected to issue its order later this evening. He said that an FIR has now been registered in connection with the illegal mining blast.
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He also added that search operations are still underway at the site, being carried out by teams of the SDRF and NDRF, based on operational requirements.
Further, SP Kumar also confirmed that police have arrested several individuals in connection with the incident and that the investigation into the blast is ongoing.
Multi-agency teams continue to work at the disaster site amid fears that the death toll could rise further.
As part of its coordinated crackdown, authorities in East Jaintia Hills seized 300.7 tonnes of illegal coal, along with mining tools and 204 gelatin sticks on Monday. This brings the total amount of coal confiscated since the explosion to roughly 7,000 tonnes.
