‘No bail, only jail’: Protest seeks arrest of builder, BMC officials over woman’s death in Jogeshwari East

Protesters called for strict enforcement of safety norms at all construction sites across the city and demanded adequate compensation and long-term support for Sanskruti Amin’s grieving family

MUMBAI: More than 1,000 people including prominent leaders from the ruling and opposition parties in the state gathered at Jogeshwari East on Sunday evening to protest against the alleged violation of safety norms at construction sites and demand justice for 22-year-old Sanskruti Amin, who was killed last Wednesday when she was hit on the head by a cement block that fell from an under-construction building. The protest was held near the under-construction building, Shivkunj, with mourners holding placards that said “No Bail, Only Jail.”

Sanskruti’s father Anil Amin also participated in the protest. (Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times)

“It is high time the police department takes firm action by arresting the builder, Shraddha Lifestyle LLP, and booking the concerned BMC officials responsible for this gross negligence,” said Harish Amin, president of the Billawar Association, Mumbai, and one of the organisers of Sunday’s protest. “If not, the Billawa community, with nearly 400,000 members in Mumbai, will be compelled to organise a large-scale dharna.”

The Billawa are a Tulu-speaking community with considerable presence in Jogeshwari and other suburbs. The 22-year-old Amin, who was killed on Wednesday, was a member of the community.

Shraddha Lifestyle LLP, which is constructing the Shivkunj building, is owned by Bhavesh Gulabchand Sanghrajka and Shraddha Bhavesh Sanghrajka. On Friday, Bhavesh Sanghrajka told HT that all safety protocols had been followed at the construction site and the incident that killed Sanskruti was an accident.

“We are not interested in the arrest of the site engineer or the contractor. We only want the builder to be arrested,” said Sanskruti’s uncle, Arun Kotian.

Protestors referred to a mishap on Saturday similar to the one that killed Sanskruti, when a rotating blade came hurtling down from the under construction Shivkunj building, narrowly missing Deepak Jangan, 46, who works at a paint company.

“The blade missed me by inches. The memory of Sanskruti’s death is still fresh — she too was on her way to work. I can’t get over how close I came to meeting the same fate,” Jangan had told HT.

“Despite repeated incidents of negligence by builders in Jogeshwari East, including cases of fatalities, no concrete action has been taken,” said local resident Suresh Anchan. “The BMC remains silent, and the builder has yet to be arrested. How many more lives must be lost before accountability is enforced?”

Protesters called for strict enforcement of safety norms at all construction sites across the city and demanded adequate compensation and long-term support for Amin’s grieving family. They also submitted a formal charter of demands to the BMC and the police, seeking the immediate arrest of the builder.

Political leaders across party lines attended the protest, including local BJP MLA Ameet Satam and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anant Bala Nar. Satam also wrote to civic chief Bhushan Gagrani, saying, “It has been brought to my attention that there were prior complaints regarding safety norms not being followed at the site, and no action was taken. If the said allegations are true, kindly take action on the concerned officers immediately.”

Satam sought an audit of all under-construction sites to check for safety violations and urged the civic chief to issue stop-work notices in the interest of public safety.

“Kindly keep me informed on the action taken,” he said in the letter.

Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Waikar wrote a separate letter to Gagrani.