A multi-level probe is under way into the incident in which a woman was tragically killed in a bank at Perumbavoor after getting fatally wounded from the shards of a smashed glass door into which she accidentally ran into on Monday.
A police scientific expert team on Tuesday inspected the branch of Bank of Baroda at Perumbavoor in this connection.
Earlier in the day, the State Human Rights Commission ordered a probe into the incident directing the District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) and Perumbavoor municipal secretary to submit an inquiry report within three weeks. The Commission registered a suo motu case in the wake of allegations over the quality of the glass door.
Though the Perumbavoor police have for the time being registered a case for “unnatural death” invoking Section 174 of CrPC, it may get altered depending on future findings.
“We have written to PWD asking whether there are any specifications governing the installation of glass doors, in which case we will have to fix responsibility as to who violated them. Other agencies also would be approached in this connection, if need be,” said C. Jayakumar, Inspector, Perumbavoor.
The bank operates out of a rented building and was occupied by Vijaya Bank since 2013 and amalgamated with the Bank of Baroda in April last year.
Bank officials had no clear response when asked whether the door was made of toughened glass and said that the glass structure was there since the time of Vijaya Bank.
The glass door, they said, prominently served the purpose of turning the bank into an enclosed space since an air-conditioner was in use.
Meanwhile, the Perumbavoor municipality has directed its engineering division to inspect the building. “The building permit is usually issued at the time of completion of the structure and looks at aspects like parking, toilet facilities, and general safety. The glass structure may be put up at a later stage while doing the interiors and the local body need not be privy to it,” said Sathy Jayakrishnan, Municipal Chairperson.