Two more suspects arrested in Greater Noida lift accident case

The construction firm Girdhari Lal Construction company’s finishing foreman and supervisor were arrested from a slum near the construction site

Two more suspects were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the lift mishap at a construction site in Greater Noida West on Friday that killed eight people, said senior police officers, adding that with this, the number of arrested suspects is now five.

On Friday morning, a service lift malfunctioned and collapsed at the Amrapali Dream Valley (Phase-2) project in Techzone-4, Greater Noida West, resulting in the death of eight daily wage workers and severe injuries to one other. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The police had arrested the first suspect in the case on Saturday, a day after the incident, while the second suspect was arrested on Sunday and the third suspect was arrested on Monday, said officials.

On Friday morning, a service lift malfunctioned and collapsed at the Amrapali Dream Valley (Phase-2) project in Techzone-4, Greater Noida West, resulting in the death of eight daily wage workers and severe injuries to one other.

Officials said the construction firm Girdhari Lal Construction company’s finishing foreman and supervisor, Manoj Kumar Madhav and Boyelal Paswan, respectively, were arrested from a slum near the construction site on Tuesday.

“During the probe, it came to fore that Madhav and Paswan had directed workers to use the lift on the day of the accident, on the instructions from the engineer. This indicates deliberate negligence and hence the two have been arrested,” Suniti, deputy commissioner of police, Central Noida said.

During investigation, it was found that the incident happened as the lift was not maintained properly despite the workers informing the management that it was continuously malfunctioning, investigators said. The lift was also being operated during the rain, despite doing so posing a technical risk. This indicated negligence on the company’s part, police said earlier.

All five suspects arrested so far are employees of the Girdhari Lal Construction Company, which had won the tender for finishing the project from NBCC India.

The suspects have been booked under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 337 (injury due to negligence), 338 (grievous hurt due to negligence), 287 (negligence related to machinery) and 34 (acts done by several persons) of the Indian Penal Code and under provisions of the Criminal Law Amendment (CLA) Act.

Meanwhile, Renu Agarwal, the chief medical superintendent of the hospital, where the lone survivor is undergoing treatment said, Kaif (son of Nunhu), is still on ventilator support and in critical condition.

“A team of physicians, orthopaedic surgeon and anesthesiologist along with ICU doctors are treating the patient and he is under continuous monitoring. The patient is still on ventilator support as there is no brain activity and the patient is not able to support respiration on his own,” she said