Mumbai, Feb 19: In a significant development in the fatal Metro construction accident in Mulund, police have initiated proceedings to question officials of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) as part of the ongoing investigation.
Police are also searching for two absconding accused, welder Ramaashish Yadav and Sai Suresh, Project Consultant with DB Hill-LBG.
Accident details and casualties
The accident occurred on February 14 at around 12:15 pm on LBS Road in Mulund West, when a concrete precast parapet from an under-construction pillar of Metro Line 4 collapsed onto a moving autorickshaw and a Skoda car.
One person, 49-year-old Ramdhani Babaprasad Yadav, a native of Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, lost his life in the incident, while three others, including a woman, sustained serious injuries.
Prashant Haribhau Bhoir, Supervisor (L) and Kuldeep Jaywant Sankpal, Project Manager (R) | File Photo
MMRDA asked to produce documents and officials
Mulund police have begun probing the role of MMRDA officials in connection with the mishap. Madhukar Kharat, Director (Additional Charge), Metro Line-4, MMRDA, has been asked to appear before investigators with relevant documents pertaining to the project. However, according to a police officer, the authority has so far only submitted documents instead of presenting officials in person.
Saurabh Sing Project Engineer (L), Harish Tejasingh Chauhan, Project Director (M) and Avdhoot Balram Inamdar, Project Manager (R) | File Photo
Contracting firms’ officials summoned
Investigators have also summoned Apalesh Patel (Managing Partner) and Ganesh Gholap (Technical Director) of Milan Road Buildtech Company, along with Arun Kumar Singh, Project Director (DB Hill-LBG), for questioning.
Police have sought project-related and construction documents from MMRDA and both contracting firms to determine accountability and fix responsibility for the lapse.
Five arrested, remanded to police custody
So far, five persons have been arrested in the case: Harish Chauhan, Kuldeep Sankpal, Saurabh Singh, Prashant Bhoir and Avdhoot Inamdar. They were produced before the Mulund Magistrate Court, which remanded them to police custody until February 20.
While the arrested accused have claimed that absconding welder Ramaashish Yadav was solely responsible for the incident, the police investigation has outlined specific roles and responsibilities of the arrested officials within the project hierarchy.
Roles of arrested officials detailed
Harish Tejasingh Chauhan, 60, Project Director at Milan Road Buildtech, was responsible for overseeing project execution through project managers and section in-charge engineers.
Kuldeep Jaywant Sankpal, 40, Project Manager, was tasked with ensuring completion of work through section in-charges and supervisors as per directives from the Project Director.
Saurabh Satyaprakash Singh, 33, Project Engineer, was responsible for supervising junior engineers and supervisors to carry out assigned work.
Prashant Haribhau Bhoir, 52, Supervisor, was in charge of executing tasks through workers as instructed by the section in-charge.
Avdhoot Balram Inamdar, 53, Project Manager with DB Hill-LBG, was responsible for coordinating with K-1 to K-5 category officials and ensuring systematic execution of the metro project as per prescribed procedures.
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State government takes serious note
The state government has taken serious note of the incident and has suspended certain officials. Police are examining whether those suspended officials may also bear responsibility for the accident as the investigation progresses.
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