LG Polymers CEO arrested in Vizag gas leak case

Visakhapatnam: The Andhra Pradesh police on Tuesday evening arrested the CEO and technical director of the South Korean-owned company LG Polymers in connection with the styrene gas leak that killed 12 persons and left 585 persons on the outskirts of this city on May 7.

The arrests were based on a report submitted by the high-power committee to chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday. The report blamed the LG Polymers management for the tragedy.

Briefing the media late in the evening, police commissioner R P Meena named the arrested officials as CEO and managing director Sun-ki Jeong, Dong-soo Kim (technical director), K Srinivasa Kiran Kumar (HoD, SMH in-charge), Ch Venkata Chandrasekhar and K. Gowra Sankara Nagendra Ramu (engineers, SMH operations), M Rajesh (Operator, SMH operations), R Satyanarayana (general manager, production),  P Poornachandra Mohan Rao (additional director, operations), P Balaji (production manager, night duty officer), A Atchyut (incharge at GPPS), K Chakrapani (GPPS plant control room operator) and K Venkata Narasimha Ramesh Patnaik (safety officer at night).

In another development, the AP Pollution Control Board has suspended two officials, R Lakshminarayana (environmental engineer, zone office) and P Prasad Rao (environmental engineer, regional office), for allowing LG Polymers to operate without an environmental clearance permitting import and storage of a huge quantity of styrene without verifying safety and environmental issues and without a real-time styrene gas monitor at the plant. The government also suspended deputy chief inspector of factories, Visakhapatnam, K.B.S. Prasad for gross dereliction of duty in connection with the LG Polymers incident.

Based on a complaint lodged by Venkatapuram village revenue officer M.V. Subba Rao, the Gopalapatnam police in Vizag on May 7, a case was registered against LG Polymers under sections 278, 284, 285 of the Inidian Penal Code.