Site owner booked for death of 3 in Nabi Karim collapse

Delhi Police on Sunday lodged an FIR against the owner of an under-construction building in Nabi Karim, where three men died after a wall collapsed due to gusty winds and rain a day before, and detained him for questioning over alleged negligence.

- Jignasa Sinha and Paras Singh

[e-mail] NEW DELHI: Police said they would ask civic authorities to conduct an inspection.

An officer, who did not wish to be named, said, "It was raining heavily and the labourers had stopped working. However, as soon as the rain subsided, the contractor and workers resumed work. The thick wall was not steady; it caved in and killed the three men."

Police said they are questioning the owner and labourers, and no arrest has been made yet. "The investigation is against him on charges of causing death by negligence and negligent conduct with regard to repairing buildings. We have questioned him and taken his statement. We will also write to MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) on Monday and conduct an inspection to ascertain if the hotel building has violated any norms," a second officer, requesting anonymity, said.

At 6.20pm on Saturday, a 65-year-old contractor and two labourers died while working in the basement of a hotel site when a wall caved in and led to their deaths. A third labourer, who was injured, is undergoing treatment, police said.

The deceased were identified as Prabhu Kumar, 65, the contractor, and his employees Niranjan Kumar, 40, and Roshan Kumar, 35. Police said the wall inside the basement was around 20-30 feet long and the workers were trapped under it. Police found that the labourers had been working at the site for around two months without safety gear.