Mumbai: A day after two brothers, aged 4 and 5, drowned in an open tank at Wadala’s Maharshi Karve garden, the police have booked the garden contractor for causing death due to negligence.
Meanwhile, the BMC covered the tank and said it will initiate an independent probe to pin the responsibility for negligence. Kishor Gandhi from the gardens department said, “We will probe whether it was the garden staff that left the water tank open, or the neighbouring residents after drawing water from it. In any case, the assistant superintendent is responsible for keeping an eye on the area. This will be determined after an inquiry that may last a week.”
The children – four-year-old Arjun and five-year-old Ankush Waghari – residents of Subhash Nagar in Matunga were found drowned in the tank on Monday, a day after they went missing.
On Tuesday morning, confusion prevailed over which police station would take up the investigation – the RAK Marg police in Wadala who first registered a case of accidental death, or the Matunga police who registered a kidnapping case initiated by the parents of the boys. Both the police stations, however, ruled out foul play.
“We are yet not sure whether the RAK Marg police or Matunga police will be investigating the case. We have not received any directions,” said a police official on condition of anonymity on Tuesday afternoon.
Officials at Matunga police station, though, confirmed to the Free Press Journal that they will book the contractor (in charge of managing the garden), along with other staff involved (if any) for causing death due to negligence under section 304A of the Indian Penal Code.
The Matunga police, who registered a case of kidnapping (under section 363), will add section 304A to the same FIR, confirmed senior police inspector Deepak Chavan. Chavan also added that they will summon the BMC personnel and the contractor to the police station on Wednesday for interrogation.
Amid this confusion, the BMC has covered the water tank. The parents of the deceased boys alleged that they had told the garden officials about the open tank as children tend to play around the spot. “But it was neglected time and again, and now this is the consequence of their negligence,” they said.
