Contractor booked for negligence in labourer’s death

While the victim was working, the iron plate got dislodged and hit his right leg. The force of the impact was such that he suffered an immediate shock

MUMBAI: A 45-year-old labourer who was hit by an iron plate while drilling holes in it on January 12, succumbed to his injuries on Friday. The police said the contractor had failed to train the worker or take any security measures to prevent the mishap.

Contractor booked for negligence in labourer’s death

According to the Sion police, the deceased has been identified as Sudam Umesh Bishwas, a resident of Nagaon in Assam, who has been living in the city since 2016, with his wife and daughters still in Assam. He had been working on the construction of an undergraduate hostel building in Sion Hospital since November 2025.

Following the incident, the police registered an offence based on a complaint by the deceased’s brother, 32-year-old Dibal Bishwas. Dibal told the police that Sudam had been working with a contractor, Shabhnam Enterprises, run by Mustaqin Shaikh.

According to Dibal, his brother was working on the fifth floor of the hostel building, making holes into iron plates using a standing drill machine. Usually before this task, the iron plates are held in place by a C clamp to stop them from moving or hitting anything. However, to speed up the process, the construction company had avoided that safety measure.

While Sudam was working, the iron plate got dislodged and hit his right leg. The force of the impact was such that he suffered an immediate shock and was admitted to the Sion Hospital’s emergency ward, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

Investigations revealed that Mustaqin Shaikh had neither trained Sudam and had even removed the C clamp to speed up the work. “Once we found that the incident occurred because of Shaikh’s negligence, we booked him under section (106) (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,” said a police officer.

The Sion Hospital redevelopment project, approved in 2017 with a budget of ₹519.12 crore, had entrusted the construction to Ahluwalia Contracts in January 2021. The redevelopment project includes the construction of 17 buildings, comprising a nursing college, residential buildings for doctors, utility structures, and hostel buildings, among others.