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Lucknow building collapse: Former minister’s nephew arrested, third key accused still at large
The accused in the Lucknow building collapse case was produced before the competent court in Lucknow and sent to Lucknow district jail after the court remanded him in judicial custody
The Lucknow police on Friday arrested former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Shahid Manzoor’s nephew Mohd Tariq, 42, from Meerut nearly 72 hours after the Alaya Apartment tragedy in Lucknow that claimed three lives. This is the second arrest in the matter.
Earlier, the former minister’s son Nawazish Shahid, 40, was arrested from Meerut on Wednesday.
The third key accused Fahad Yazdani is still at large and raids are on for his arrest in the matter, a senior police official said.
Mohd Tariq (the second arrested accused) was wanted in a case of culpable homicide and other charges registered at Hazratganj police station on Tuesday (January 24) in connection with the collapse of Alaya Apartment building on Wazir Hasan Road on Tuesday evening, the Lucknow police said in a press note on Friday.
The press note stated that the accused was produced before the competent court in Lucknow and sent to Lucknow district jail after the court remanded him in judicial custody.
A senior police official said the FIR in the Alaya Apartment matter was lodged against Nawazish Shahid, Mohd Tariq and Yazdan construction’s owner Fahad Yazdani under relevant Indian Penal Code sections in this connection.
These IPC sections include 323 (voluntarily causing hurt, 304 (culpable homicide), 308 (any act with such intention or knowledge and under such circumstances that, if he by that act caused death he would be guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 420 (fraud) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).
Samajwadi Party national spokersperson Abbas Haider’s wife Uzma Talha,35, his mother Begum Haider, 75, and a 42 -year -old school teacher Shabana Khatun died in the Alaya Apartment collapse. Uzma and her mother-in-law were recovered from the debris on Wednesday and later died in hospital. The body of Shabana Khatun was recovered on Thursday.
As many as 16 people were brought out safely from the debris on Tuesday during an over 20-hour long rescue operation by the NDRF and SDRF teams.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday had ordered a probe into the incident by a three-member committee which will submit its report within a week. The committee comprising divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob, joint police commissioner of Lucknow Piyush Mordia and chief engineer of the PWD will fix accountability for the tragedy.
ALL ALLEGATIONS BASELESS: BUILDER
Builder Fahad Yazdani, the third accused in the collapse of Alaya Apartment in Lucknow, has claimed Yazdan builders had nothing to do with the incident.
In a video released on Friday, Yazdani said, “Yazdan builders have nothing to do with the collapse or anything to Alaya Apartment as the building came up between 2010-2011 whereas the Yazdan firm was made in the year 2012-2013.”
“Allegations made are all lies and baseless and it is a conspiracy to defame me and mislead the chief minister,” he added.
“In fact, Shahid Manzoor’s son and his nephew too have nothing to do with anything in that building, they have sold the flats and registered it. Cameras were installed in the parking lot. I request all the officers to take out the cameras from the debris and see that the work of drilling that was going on in that building was being done by Shahid Manzoor himself, for which a heated argument between him and residents also took place,” said Fahad.
“Because of my relationship with Shahid Manzoor, when this building was being constructed in 2009 and 2010, I helped sell three flats for a commission which I had received,” he added.
“If there is any kind of agreement in the name of Fahad Yazdani, then I myself am ready to go to jail,” said Fahad in the video.
Despite efforts to contact him multiple times, Shahid Manzoor was not available for comment as both his numbers were switched off.
