Teen’s death in lift: MD of sweets brand booked

Two officials of a sweets brand and two contractors booked for death of 15-year-old in lift mishap at Mahim factory, accused of trying to cover it up.

MUMBAI: Two officials of a well-known sweets brand and two labour contractors were booked on Thursday in connection with the death of a 15-year-old boy in a lift mishap at their Mahim factory in February. Police have said that the firm tried to hush up the matter by portraying it as a natural death. A case has been registered by the Shahu Nagar police against the managing director and a manager of Punjabi Ghasitaram Halwai Pvt Ltd as well as two labour contractors who supplied the minor boy to the factory as a worker.

The incident happened at Ghasitaram’s food factory at Shahu Nagar in Mahim on February 10. (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

According to the police, the teenager, who had been working at the factory for only a day, suffered serious injuries while using a lift at the Mahim factory last month and died two days later. Police said that the company hid the information related to his injuries and also did not give him proper medical aid, which led to his death. The accused have been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

“We got a call from Sion hospital on February 10 that a 15-year-old boy identified only as Ankit was brought to the hospital with head injuries. It was not made clear as to how he suffered the injuries. The boy died on February 12, and an accidental death report (ADR) was registered in the matter the next day,” said a police officer.

The investigations into the ADR, conducted by police-sub-inspector Chandraban Patil, revealed that the boy was working at the manufacturing unit of Punjabi Ghasitaram Halwai at Jasmine Mill Road in Mahim East. The 15-year-old was brought to the factory on February 9 by labour contractors, Ramzan Khan and Sushil Shelote, who have now been arrested.

“The manager of the sweets unit Udaybhaan Singh hired him despite knowing that he was a minor. The boy’s name was not Ankit but Kunal Chaudhary, 15, who hailed from Vallabh Nagar in Madhya Pradesh. There was an illegal lift installed in the unit, the button for which was outside. The boy sat in the lift on the afternoon of February 10 and pressed the button but before he could get his head inside, it got stuck in the iron gate and he suffered head injuries,” said a police officer from Shahu Nagar police station.

They rushed him to Sion Hospital but gave the wrong name. They did not even inform his family members about the injury, nor give complete information to the doctors about his injuries. “His post-mortem report revealed cause of death as shock due to head injury and facial injuries (unnatural),” said the police officer.

“After enquiries, we have booked Kunal Bajaj, managing director of Punjabi Ghasitaram Halwai Pvt Ltd who lives in Juhu as he allowed the illegal lift to be installed in the premises of his sweets factory, which led to the boy’s death,” said the police officer. The accused have been booked under 304(II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 34 (common intention) and sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 as well as the Maharashtra Lifts, Escalators and Moving Walks Act, 2017.

When HT visited the factory, a manager who did not wish to be named, said, “The incident was unfortunate. It was a goods lift and not supposed to be used by people, but the teenager was new and he got stuck in it. Our employers are busy with the same matter and will only be available to speak on Monday or Tuesday.”