Mohali City Centre wall collapse: Owners of mall, construction firm, booked

The accused are facing charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which entails imprisonment for life or imprisonment of either description for a term that may extend to 10 years

A day after two labourers were killed after a retaining wall of an under-construction mall of Mohali City Centre in Aerocity collapsed on Sunday evening, police on Monday booked the owners of the mall and Surya Construction Company, along with the project manager and other officials.

Two workers were killed and an equal number was injured in the accident on Sunday. (Sanjeev Sharma/HT)

While the project manager has been identified as Ajay Kumar Sharma, police have not named the owners in the FIR that has been lodged under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

If proven, Section 304 entails imprisonment for life or imprisonment of either description for a term that may extend to 10 years.

According to deputy superintendent of police (City 2) Harsimran SinghBal, the accused were booked following a complaint by Jainath Roy of Bajpatti, Sitamarhi, Bihar, who survived the accident by timely jumping to the other side.

“Investigation is underway to identify the owners and other officials. Their names will be included in the FIR,” he said.

As per Roy’s statement, he, along with the deceased and other injured victims, was working in the basement, when a pile of soil gave way around 5 pm, trapping four people, including Ravinder Sahni, 28, and Shiv Shankar, both natives of Bihar, who died in the accident, besides Rajesh Dhoni and Azad, who were injured.

The complainant alleged that proper safety measures were not adopted by the construction company officials. “Despite being aware of the risk to the workers, no safety measures were taken, and huge piles and heaps of sand were allowed to stand, which eventually collapsed claiming two lives,” said Roy.

According to police, the injured are out of danger.

Meanwhile, while police have detained some officials of the construction company for questioning, no one was arrested till the filing of the report on Monday.

“We are waiting for the families of the deceased to reach Mohali. After their arrival, we will get the bodies identified, before proceeding with further legal procedure. Both the deceased were married and one of them is survived by six daughters,” said a senior police official.

When asked about the administrative probe related to the construction lapses, a senior official said, “We have not initiated any inquiry in the case so far, but in case we get any formal request from the police, we will take appropriate action.”