Declared Dead After Meghalaya Mine Blast, Man Returns Home Days After Funeral

Last Updated:February 14, 2026, 20:48 IST

Shyambabu Sinha, a resident of the Ratabari police station area in Assam’s Sribhumi district, returned to his village three days after he was presumed dead in the explosion.

In a bizarre and shocking incident, a man who was among the 31 declared dead in the devastating explosion in an illegal rat-hole coal mine in East Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya stunned his family and villagers by returning home days after his funeral rites had already been performed.

The explosion had occurred in the remote Thangsku area of Mynsngat village on February 5, in the unauthorised mine, purportedly caused by the use of dynamite.

The state government had called off search and rescue operations at the blast site on February 9, after assessment teams concluded that there was no further possibility of locating survivors trapped inside the mine.

Shyambabu Sinha, a resident of the Ratabari police station area in Assam’s Sribhumi district, returned to his village three days after he was presumed dead in the explosion.

His sudden return has left family members and officials shocked and raised serious questions about the identity of the body that was cremated in his name.

According to the sources, the body had been handed over after identification procedures that are now under scrutiny, NDTV reported.

Questions are mounting over how such a mix-up could have occurred – was it panic, poor documentation, or deeper lapses at the site?

Meanwhile, the investigation into the explosion is intensifying, with allegations of illegal mining networks, possible sabotage and unsafe handling of explosives widening the scope of the probe.

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