Overview
- A blast at a scrap-metal processing unit in Pangram, Cachar district, on Sunday, July 26, killed four workers and severely injured two others with locals reporting molten metal spilled on victims.
- Police arrested five people within 48 hours, including the unit owner identified with Kade Global Infrastructure LLP, and have produced them before court on negligence-related charges.
- State authorities have ordered multiple inquiries—a magisterial probe, a police investigation, a labour-department probe and a Forensic Science Laboratory examination—to establish how the explosion occurred and whether safety rules were followed.
- Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced an ex-gratia payment of ₹5 lakh to each next of kin while a local legislator ordered a district-wide industrial safety audit covering similar units.
- The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance and issued notices to the Assam chief secretary and Cachar SSP seeking a consolidated report within two weeks that must detail injured workers’ health and compensation disbursement.