HINDUSTAN Copper Limited’s Chief Vigilance Officer Upendra Kumar Pandey died after a lift collapsed at a mine in Rajasthan’s Neem Ka Thana, police said on Wednesday. Fourteen others who were trapped in the mine were rescued and sent to a hospital in Jaipur for treatment, they said. Additional Director General (ADG) Anil Paliwal said the rescue team recovered the body of Chief Vigilance Officer Pandey from the mine. A team of 15 personnel had gone down the mine for an inspection and while returning, the cable of the cage broke due to which the cage fell down. They were stuck in a depth of around 1,875 feet.

 

The rescue work took place in multiple rounds. A vigilance team had come from Kolkata for inspection of the mine. It was accompanied by local unit personnel during the inspection. In Delhi, Mines Secretary V L Kantha Rao said an inquiry will be ordered in the incident. “I had been in the same lift a few months back. It was all good...We will get an enquiry done and find out what happened,” Rao told reporters.