Two boys drown in pit left open by contractor in Ambernath

The children have been identified as Sunny Pramod Yadav (6), a class I student and Suraj Manoj Rajbhar (8), a class III student. Both lived with their families at Babu Sheth Chawl in Dawalpada in Ambernath. Their fathers work as labourers

Mumbai: Two boys, aged six and eight, playing near their house on Wednesday evening drowned in a pit filled with unseasonal rainwater. The pit was dug up by a contractor to install the MIDC pipeline in the Dawalpada area of Ambernath.

The police assured family members and residents to lodge an FIR against the contractor. Subsequently, a case was registered against Kishor Masurkar, owner of M M Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and Santosh Hatibhau Pilgar, side contractor for the project under section 304(A) (Causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code, which is a bailable offence with two years imprisonment (HT Photos)

The children have been identified as Sunny Pramod Yadav (6), a class I student and Suraj Manoj Rajbhar (8), a class III student. Both lived with their families at Babu Sheth Chawl in Dawalpada in Ambernath. Their fathers work as labourers.

The Hill Line police lodged an Accidental Death Report; however, their family members and residents staged a protest demanding an immediate FIR against the contractor for causing death by negligence.

Both the kids were playing near the pit and accidentally fell into it. The pit was filled with water after the unseasonal showers in the Thane district two days ago.

Police Naik, Jayesh Padir, Hill Line police station said, “When the kids did not return home, the family members were looking for them but they could not trace them. A few hours later, someone spotted the footwear of one of the boys near the pit and alerted their family members. They came to the spot and pulled the boys out from the pit. Locals and family members took them to the central hospital where both were declared dead before admission.”

After the post-mortem, their bodies were handed over to the family members on Thursday morning for final rites.

Padir further added that a new pipeline has already been installed but the pit has not been filled up by the contractor. The pit is around five to six feet deep and 14 feet wide, he said.

The police assured family members and residents to lodge an FIR against the contractor. Subsequently, a case was registered against Kishor Masurkar, owner of M M Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and Santosh Hatibhau Pilgar, side contractor for the project under section 304(A) (Causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code, which is a bailable offence with two years imprisonment.