Pune: Builder, two partners held for girl’s death in elevator

PUNE: The Khadak police on Thursday arrested a builder and his two partners for allegedly causing the death of a seven-year-girl, who got stuck in an elevator in Zohra Complex at Ghorpade Peth on the night of October 20 last year.

The arrests were effected after the inquiry report of the assistant lift inspector, received the same day, indicted the three for installing the elevator illegally.

A magisterial court on Friday remanded builder Nasruddin Inamdar (71) from NIBM Road, who is also a former corporator, and his partners Moinuddin Shaikh (67) from Kondhwa and Mohammad Rafiq Shaikh (54) from Ganesh Peth in police custody till February 11.

Residents of the ‘B’ building of the complex had rescued the girl, Nashra Rehman Khan, before the fire brigade could arrive. They took her to a private hospital at Rasta Peth and from there to Sassoon hospital, where she died.

Police said Nashra was going to the third floor alone in the elevator around 6.30pm. On hearing her screams, other residents rushed to the elevator and found her stuck between the cage and the wall somewhere between the second and third floor.

The residents broke the locks of the lift door and pulled out an unconscious Nashra. She had suffered multiple injuries in the back, spine, knees and legs. She died around 8.30pm.

Senior inspector Rajendra Mokashi of the Khadak police station told TOI, “We had initially registered a complaint of accidental death and launched investigations. We wrote to the assistant lift inspector asking for an inquiry and a report. The authority conducted a detailed inquiry and technical tests and submitted a report which said that the elevator had been installed without seeking its permission.”

Mokashi said Inamdar and his partners have been arrested under various charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. “Investigations have also revealed that the building was constructed illegally without seeking permission from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) way back in 2001. The PMC has not issued a completion certificate for the building but it has also not taken any action against the builder,” he said.

Mokashi said the residents of the building had pursued the matter with the police, seeking action against Inamdar and his partners. “The elevator was sealed after the incident,” he added.

Refuting the police’s statements, Inamdar’s lawyer M M Sayyed said the building was constructed more than 15 years ago and that four elevators had been installed after seeking necessary permission from the PMC and the lift inspector’s office. “Inamdar and his partners had handed over the buildings in the complex to the residents on completion of the project long back. The residents are now using only two of the four elevators to keep their maintenance charges low. Inamdar and his partners have nothing to do with the incident as it is the responsibility of the housing society to maintain the elevators,” he claimed.

When contacted, PMC building permission department’s executive engineer Jayant Sarode told TOI, “I don’t know if the building is legal or not. I will ask my deputy engineer to verify the facts on Monday.”