Mild tension prevailed at the Godavarikhani coal belt over the accidental death of a coal miner (over-headman) when he was hit by a dumper in Open Cast Project-3 in the Ramagundam-3 division of Singareni Collieries Company Limited in the district on Friday.
Reports reaching here said that over-headman, Rajendraprasad, 53, while working in the OCP came under the wheels of loaded dumper.
He is survived by wife, two sons and a daughter. His body was shifted to the Singareni area hospital for post-mortem.
After the news spread, the national trade union leaders, who were on strike demanding the revival of dependent employment since June 15, rushed to the hospital and staged dharna flaying the Singareni management and the Telangana Boggu Ghani Karmika sangham (TGBKS), the recognised trade union, for forcibly deploying the miners in the work to foil the strike. They demanded that the management should pay an ex gratia of ₹1 crore to the family and conducted an inquiry by the Director-General of Mine Safety (DGMS). At one stage, the agitating trade union leaders tried to attack the officials of Singareni. The police rushed to the spot in large numbers to avoid any untoward incident.
