Death by radiation: 6 DU professors charge-sheeted

Delhi police on Friday filed a charge sheet in a city court against six Delhi University professors in the 2010 Mayapuri radiation case for endangering lives by auctioning an radioactive gamma irradiator without following mandatory precautions.

The charge sheet, filed before Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen, covers Delhi University teachers including the then Head of Chemistry Department V S Parmar and the then Dean of Sciences Roop Lal.

Besides them, Rakesh Kumar, Ramesh Chandra Rastogi, Ashok Prasad and Rita Kakkar have also been charge-sheeted under various penal provisions dealing with causing death by rash and negligent acts and causing grievous hurt.

The court is likely to take cognisance of the probe report on September 21.

The irradiator was sold in the scrap market in violation of the rules of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board which says any chemical product emitting radiations cannot be auctioned and disposed off without following mandatory regulations, the charge sheet said.

One person died and seven people were critically injured in April last year after they were exposed to radiation when they cut open a Cobalt-60 irradiator at Mayapuri scrap market in Delhi.

The irradiator was traced to DU's Chemistry department. Police said two committees, comprising University professors, were set up before the irradiator was decided to be auctioned.

The first committee was set up to find out which material were of no use to the University and can be sold and the second committee was formed to auction the waste products, the charge sheet said.