Three arrested in Balco chimney collapse case

The vice president of Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) and two other officials have been arrested and charged with homicide following the collapse of a chimney that killed around 40 people, police said on Tuesday.

The chimney, under construction at a power plant in Korba, Chhattisgarh, collapsed in September after a storm.

The plant belongs to Balco, in which Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd, part of the mining group Vedanta, holds 51%.

The Balco vice president who was arrested in Korba was also the project manager of the plant, said Ratanlal Dangi, the district superintendent of police.

The three were arrested on charges known as culpable homicide not amounting to murder as part of a police case against Balco, police said.

"The arrest has come as a surprise to us," a Balco spokesman said. "The entire Balco team, especially the power plant project team, has been cooperating with the investigating agencies."