Three of scrap trading firm held after 8 months

Vadodara: Almost eight months after a building on Larsen & Toubro (L&T) campus on Old Chhani Road collapsed during demolition, police arrested three partners of a scrap trading company, which was contracted by the engineering conglomerate to bring down the building.
Fatehgunj police had registered a case against the three partners – Shivpujan Giri, Aslam Khan Pathan, Farmaan Saiyed – and an administrator Ejaz Pathan on June 11 for negligence and not following the norms laid down by L&T during demolition. Two persons had died in the building collapse.
Police said that during investigation in the accidental death case, it was revealed that L&T had laid down safety norms while handing over the contract to the scrap trading company. “The company had asked them to keep all safety equipment handy for the workers and conduct demolition only in the presence of an expert. Neither of these instructions was followed,” said sub-inspector D V Chaudhary, who became the complainant in the case.
On October 19 last year, the administrator Ejaz had told the demolition machine operator to start breaking the pillars on the ground floor due to which the building came down. “We have arrested all three partners of the scrap trading company, but the administrator is still on the run,” said investigating officer D M Rabari, sub-inspector at Fatehgunj police station.
Two labourers Kaiful Pathan and Abdul Wahid had died and around 11 persons were injured in the incident.