E-Paper
Mohali: Co-owner of collapsed Sohana building held
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) City-2 HS Bal said both the accused were produced before a local court which sent them to five days police custody
Local police on Monday arrested the co-owner of the building which collapsed in Mohali’s Sohana village on Saturday killing two people in the debacle.
The accused was identified as Gagandeep Singh,31, of Chaumajra village. Police earlier on Sunday nabbed his partner Parvinder Singh of the same village.
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) City-2 HS Bal said both the accused were produced before a local court which sent them to five days police custody.
“We have also nominated Suresh Kumar, construction contractor in the case, and will arrest him soon. We will take strict action against all people responsible for the tragedy,” DSP Bal said.
As per police, excavation work was going on in the adjacent plot, also owned by the arrested accused, causing the land to sink, leading in the tragedy. The digging had started late Friday evening without proper precautionary measures or permission from Mohali municipal corporation, cops said.
The accused were booked under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Gagandeep Singh was also elected as a panch in the recently held panchayat polls.
Mohali sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Damandeep Kaur has been entrusted with the probe and has been asked to submit a report within three weeks.
Tragedy claimed 2 lives
As per the National Disaster Response Team (NDRF) report, only two people were trapped under the debris. The operation was concluded after 23 hours of search by the rescue teams.
The deceased were identified as Abhishek Dhanwal, 30, of Ambala and Drishti Verma, 20, of Theog in Himachal Pradesh. Abhishek, along with a few other people, had initially rushed out of the building after being alerted by a nearby shopkeeper, Salman, who saw the structure tilting. But he went inside again to collect his mobile phone and failed to make a safe exit before the building came crashing down. Drishti’s cousin Sakshi, who stayed with her, had left for her hometown before the incident while Drishti was sleeping in her rented accommodation when tragedy struck.
