PMC contractor, 2 others held for scooterist’s death

PUNE: The Mundhwa police have arrested a civic contractor and two of his employees in connection with the death of a 60-year-old scooter rider in an accident in Mundhwa.

In the accident that occurred at 6.20am on Wednesday, Rashid Rustom Irani’s scooter skid on an uneven patch of the road near the botanical garden near Tadigutta chowk. The road, which was dug up by the contractor to replace a faulty water pipeline, was improperly patched, making the surface uneven. He was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, and died of severe head injuries.

The police have arrested the contractor, Shahu Sheshrao Kakade, and his employees, Uttareshwar Mohan Narsingh and Indrajit Vasantrao Deshmukh, for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The police had initially registered a case of negligence under Section 304-A of the Indian Penal Code, punishable by up to two years in jail, but, following their probe, changed it to Section 304, which is punishable with a sentence of 10 years.

Irani, a resident of Dastur Meher Road in Camp, was going to a hotel in Kharadi IT park, where he was employed as a manager. His body has been kept in Command Hospital’s morgue, as his relatives are awaiting the arrival of his daughter and son from abroad.

“The Pune Municipal Corporation had hired the contractor to replace a leaking water pipeline near the botanical garden. The contractor and his employees had started digging up a portion of the road on Tuesday night. One of our beat marshals, who was passing by the site, had advised the contractor and his men to take precautionary measures,” senior inspector Anil Patrudkar of the Mundhwa police.

“The contractor and his men assured (the beat marshal) that they would take safety measures. but they merely filled up the dug up portion with mud improperly, without levelling it. This proved fatal for Irani the next morning,” he added.

Immediately after the accident, a passer-by had called a private ambulance. The ambulance reached the spot, but the doctors found that Irani had died. Since private ambulances do not carry deceased victims, they left the spot after declaring the victim dead, police said.

Another ambulance was then summoned and the body taken to the Sassoon General Hospital. A post mortem was conducted and the doctors issued an advanced certificate, stating severe head injury as the cause of death, police said.

“Initially, only the contractor was booked, but during our investigation, the involvement of his employees also came to light. The contractor told the police that he had an order for short-term work from the PMC’s water supply department. We then summoned the PMC officials to verify details of the work. The PMC later hurriedly tarred the road,” Patrudkar said.

Officials from the PMC water supply department did not respond to several requests for comment.