Bhubaneswar Cops To Visit Faridabad For Filling Station Blast Probe After Diwali

Bhubaneswar: A Twin City Commissionerate Police team will soon visit Faridabad to interrogate senior functionaries of a private company in connection with the explosion at a filling station near Raj Bhawan Square in the Odisha capital on October 7, which claimed two lives.

According to a Times of India report, the Faridabad-based company had engaged workers to inspect the petrol pump’s automatic LPG dispensing unit where the blast took place. “Our team will go to Faridabad after Diwali as the company is yet to respond to our notices to come to Bhubaneswar for verification,” Commissioner of Police Sudhanshu Sarangi told the daily newspaper.

The State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL) in its report had earlier stated that the faulty work by Faribadabad-based Surya Shakti Vessels Pvt Ltd during the inspection and repair of the underground LPG chamber had triggered the blast.

“We are likely to ascertain the cause of the blast and get proof of suspected negligence of some persons in the next few days. Those who are responsible will soon be arrested,” Sarangi said.

Functionaries of another Kolkata-based company, which looked after the maintenance of the auto-LPG unit, will also be questioned, he added.

The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL)-run petrol pump’s service provider, who is the wife of a retired bureaucrat, is also under scanner.

Besides Commissionerate Police, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is separately probing the cause of the explosion. The authorities of the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) suspect it occurred due to leakage of the auto-LPG unit, the TOI report added.