Three labourers had died when a stone slab collapsed on them (Representational image)A day after three labourers died when a stone slab collapsed on them at the under-construction foyer of a temple in Pimple Gurav, the contractor in charge of the work has been arrested.
Police have said that the work was being carried out illegally in spite of the civic body issuing a stop work notice earlier. Workers at the site were not given the requisite safety equipment such as helmets, safety shoes and nets, said police.
The arrested contractor, Rahul Jayprakash Jagtap (36), has been booked under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to causing death due to negligence, endangering personal safety of others and disobeying government order.
“We have arrested the contractor and a court has remanded him to one-day custody. Further probe in the case is expected to bring to light the role of some other persons in the case of criminal negligence, which has led to the death of three and injuries to nine persons,” said Senior Inspector Prabhakar Shinde of Sangvi police station.
Police have said the stone slab was being built by gluing stone blocks to each other with a type of adhesive solution. The structure was supported by some metal bars and bamboos. This slab collapsed around 3 pm on Wednesday, when 12 workers were standing under it. The other workers on the site, along with local residents, pulled out the injured workers and rushed them to a hospital. Three persons, including a woman, succumbed to their injuries while nine others are undergoing treatment for serious injuries.
The three deceased labourers have been identified as Mantosh Sanjit Das (29) and Premchand Rajwat (35), both from West Bengal, and the woman labourer is Sidhamma Mansoppa Pujari (30), a resident of Khadki in Pune.
