The City Police have booked cases under Section 304 (part II) of the IPC (negligence) against the management of Visakha Solvents, a pharmaceutical company at JNPC, Parawada.
According to Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar Meena, a team has been formed to probe into the fire accident that at the plant on Monday night, in which one person was charred to death and another suffered burn injuries.
Meanwhile, a five-member committee appointed by District Collector V. Vinay Chand to inquire into accident submitted its preliminary report on Tuesday evening.
According to the report, the fire broke out in the reactor no. SSR 102, which was under the process of distillation of dimethyle sulfoxide (DMSO) on the first floor of the solvent recovery plant. Around 8.30 p.m. on Monday, steam and vacuum were applied to the reactor. During the shift change around 9 p.m., it was observed that the intensity of vacuum had increased from 600 mm of Hg to 350 mm, the report said.
Chemist T. Malleswara Rao immediately cut off the steam supply to the reactor and rushed the second floor to check the vacuum pumps.
He returned to the first floor and found smoke coming out of the shaft seal of the agitator of the reactor. He immediately asked junior operator K. Srinivasa Rao to move out of the block, the report said.
Mr. Malleswara Rao sustained burns, while Srinivasa Rao was later found dead at the accident spot.
