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The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday constituted an expert committee to probe the furnace blasts in the Rs 13 billion Sterlite Industries' copper smelter plant at Tuticorin on August 30, which killed two contract workers and burnt another.

The four-member committee would be headed by Vaidhyanathan, deputy director general in the office of the Public Sector Directorate General of Industries Consultative Committee.

T Vasudevan, chief inspector of factories in Madras, Seshadri, a metallurgist in the Indian Institute of Technology, and Sathyanathan of the Bharat Heavy Electricals would assist Vaidhyanathan in the probe.

The controversial unit has been shut down following the blast in the rotary holding furnace.

The factory had just reopened after a 40-day closure following a gas leak in Tuticorin in July, when the blasts occurred.

The state government has banned the use of the furnace till normalcy was restored.

The Sterlite management claimed that the explosions were the result of sabotage. The company had even stated that it had received an anonymous call that morning warning that four bombs had been planted in the factory.

Following this, the state government deputed a seven-member bomb detection and disposal squad to visit the factory and submit a detailed report about the blast.

The team concluded that the blasts were not caused by any explosive material but purely due to some internal technical problem.

It also chided the management for sensationalising the issue instead of taking corrective steps.

On receipt of the report, the state government prevented the management from resuming operation till the defects in the furnace were rectified.

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