Engineer, building owner booked for labourer’s death

TIRUPUR: A civil engineer and a building owner were booked for causing death due to negligence after one of their employees was electrocuted at a temporary accommodation facility they had provided to him.

R Kumar, a native of Mettur in Salem, had been working for P Balu, a civil engineer, for the past three years. Balu had taken up the construction of an apartment for one K Duraisamy, 53, at Andipalayam. The construction work had been going on for more than two years.

The labourers were given accommodation at the construction site, where a temporary thatched house was erected for them. On Wednesday, Kumar was electrocuted when he attempted to charge his mobile phone, a police official said.

Following this, members of Adi Tamilar Peravai demanded the police to book the civil engineer and the building owner. Central police subsequently registered a case under Section 304 (A) of IPC against the duo, who later provided a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to Kumar's family.