Korba, Oct 5 Cracking the whip, the Chhattisgarh government today suspended an assistant labour commissioner for 'dereliction of duty' in connection with the BALCO mishap which claimed over 40 lives.

"Acting on the recommendation of Labour Minister Chandrashekar Sahu, Assistant Labour Commissioner Satyaprakash Verma has been suspended for dereliction of duty," official sources said.

The action has been taken for remaining absent from the headquarters without permission also, they said adding the Labour Department has issued order to this effect.

Meanwhile, D P Tiwari, Assistant Labour Commissioner of Bilaspur has been given additional charge of Korba.

Over 40 labourers were killed and several injured when they were working on construction of a chimney at an under-construction thermal power plant of BALCO last month.

Meanwhile, police have seized documents related to construction work and labourers from the JDCL office, Superintendent of Police Ratan Lal Dangi said.

- (Agencies)