Pune: Schaeffler India chief executive officer and managing director Harsha Kadam was formally arrested on Thursday in connection with the June 9 carbon dioxide leak at the company's Talegaon MIDC plant, which killed two workers and injured four others. He was later granted bail by a court in Vadgaon Maval.
Talegaon MIDC police had detained Kadam in Mumbai on Monday. During a medical examination before a remand hearing, his blood pressure spiked and he was admitted to Sassoon General Hospital. The court directed police to keep him under detention and guard at the hospital until discharge and to produce him immediately afterwards.
Kadam was formally arrested after discharge and produced before the court, which granted him bail, senior police inspector Vijayanand Patil said.
The leak occurred on June 9 while expired CO2 cylinders were being replaced in the fire suppression system at the plant. Police first registered an accidental death case, then filed an FIR on July 4 naming six people, including the company's safety officer and personnel from two contractors engaged for the work.
Kadam is the eighth person arrested in the case, and a chargesheet has already been filed, a senior officer said. The allegations centre on the CO2 cylinders having been kept in a basement pit without the necessary permission, in an area that lacked an exhaust fan or mechanical ventilation, the officer said.
A Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health inspection found the pit did not conform to the company's approved layout. As the occupier of the premises, Kadam was responsible for the installation, since no modifications could be made without his permission, police alleged.
Police said negligence led to the two deaths and four injuries. The charges will be tested in court.