Youth killed in Kolkata as rod from 'illegal' construction pierces his head

KOLKATA: A 21-year-old second-year BCom student died, while his 19-year-old friend had a close shave- thanks to sheer luck and his presence of mind-when an iron rod from an underconstruction building fell on their heads late on Friday on Watgunge Street close to Kabitirtha in Kidderpore.
The police said the rod drove through victim Zakir Ali's head.
The rod would have killed his friend, Farhan Ahmed (19), too, had he not managed to duck in a matter of a fraction of a second. Ahmed recounted on Saturday that the rod had pierced through the bag he was carrying.
The duo was returning from a gym on a bike when the incident took place. "Ali was riding the bike and I was riding pillion. As we neared his house, we found some construction workers in the building adjacent to his house. An illegal sixth floor was being added even though the building in question was already leaning towards Ali's residence. The men saw us and asked us to wait as they were lifting a piece of rod from the ground to the sixth floor. We waited for a few minutes as Ali wanted to park his bike in the narrow stretch between the two houses. The workers gave the go ahead and we tried moving ahead. That is when the rod fell on Ali's head and drove through it. I tried to remove the rod but to no avail," Ahmed told police on Saturday.
The incident led to protests from neighbours, who complained against rampant illegal constructions in the area that threatened their safety and security. Later in the night, a few of them even gheraoed councillor of Ward 76, Sasthi Das, at his residence. A huge police force from Watgunge reached the spot and promised quick action.
Ashraf, the victim's father and Akbar, his uncle, claimed that the BCom student was a victim of the rampant illegal construction. "The police station is so close but no one in the administration seems to notice anything," said Akbar.
The cops arrested builder Md Shamsheen soon after this. A search has been launched for the construction workers who were pulling up the rod using a rope.
"Around 8pm, a pipe fell on a 21-year-old man from an under-construction building on Watgunge Street. The man died on the spot. After some time, a group of people went to the local councillor's house and staged an agitation for some time. But the situation was brought under control. The builder, Shamsheen, has been arrested," said joint CP (crime) Sankha Subhra Chakrabarty.