Dombivli Chemical factory owner arrested, probe on to identify cause of blasts

While some reports earlier in the day suggested that 11 people were killed in the incident, KDMC clarified that the death toll was still at eight

Thane: A day after multiple blasts rocked Amudan Chemical Pvt Ltd’s factory in Dombivli MIDC, Malay Mehta, the owner of the factory was arrested by the Thane crime branch on Friday. His 70-year-old mother, the director the firm, was also detained by police for questioning. The official death toll from the incident was still at eight, according to the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), but rescue workers said they had found several body parts strewn across the site on Friday, which were collected and sent to the hospital. Officials from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) also visited Dombivli on Friday to investigate the exact cause of the blasts.

Rescue workers, including personnel from the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), scrutinised the debris manually as well as with machines to check for bodies or body parts. (Pramod Tambe)

While some reports earlier in the day suggested that 11 people were killed in the incident, the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) clarified that the death toll was still at eight. “We have received only eight complete bodies so far, along with some other body parts,” said Indurani Jakhar, KDMC commissioner. Rescue workers, including personnel from the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), had scrutinised the debris manually as well as with machines to check for bodies or body parts, said Jakhar. “The 68 people who were injured are admitted in different hospitals, among whom 12 are in intensive care, but are stable.”

Bimal Nathuvani, a rescue worker at the site, said NDRF teams found multiple body parts, such as a palm, parts of the chest and stomach, hands, a foot, part of a head, and some fingers, on Friday. “We collected them in a bag and sent them to the hospital,” he said.

Health officer of KDMC, D Shukla, said, “Yesterday, we had identified the body of Rohini Kadam through her hair and dress, whereas Riddhi Khanvilkar was identified through her finger ring. The other bodies are burnt so badly that we have no other option but to perform a DNA test.”

A forensic team from Kalina visited Dombivli on Friday to collect samples of close relatives of the victims, said Shukla, adding, “They assured us that they will submit the reports on priority basis.”

Meanwhile, deputy commissioner of police Parag Manere said they had arrested Malay Mehta under section 304 (culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code. Mehta’s father Pradip had started Amudan and two other chemical factories in collaboration with his two brothers in 1979. After Pradip died in 2019, Malay Mehta took charge of Amudan.

“He wanted to expand the business, but since there is stiff competition in this field, he also wanted to make some different products,” said a close aide of Mehta. “Changing business strategy is a slow, time-consuming process, but he was working towards it. In fact, he had some meetings last month to expedite the process.”

Officials from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) visited Dombivli on Friday to investigate the exact reason behind the blasts. “We have served a closure notice to Amudan Chemicals and eight neighbouring companies, which were affected by the blast, which will be effective till the investigation is complete. We also collected samples of several chemicals to investigate further,” said Rajendra Rajput, MPCB official.

Officials mentioned Amudan was using nine different chemicals that they knew were harmful, but they did not take any precautions.

Central minister Ramdas Athavale and leader of opposition Ambadas Danve too visited the spot. “Ideally, industrial audits should be carried out regularly, and action should be taken against violators. But unfortunately, in Maharashtra, the directorate of industrial safety exists only on paper. They do not have enough authority to work,” said Danve.

Meanwhile, companies adjacent to Amudan Chemicals which were gutted in the fire said they would have to spend ₹30-40 lakh each to rebuild their factories. Avinash Kamble, the owner of Autocars Coating Private Limited, which was gutted in the fire, said he would have to incur a loss of ₹1 crore to repair the factory.

“I had established this company 50 years ago, when there were no settlements around a 5-km radius. Residential areas should be located away from the MIDC, but this was not followed by government authorities. We all are suffering for their corrupted agendas,” said Kamble. He said though the government was asking chemical factories to shift elsewhere, the costs were too high. “How can we manage and survive somewhere else? The policies are never favourable for small scale industries like us,” he said.