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Day after 2 women die in billboard collapse, police book Ekana mgmt for ‘negligent act’
Managing Director of Ekana Sportz City, Uday Sinha, said that the billboard was put up by Origins advertising agency on a profit-sharing basis.
LUCKNOW City police lodged an FIR against Ekana Management on Monday midnight in connection with the death of a mother-daughter duo after a billboard collapsed on their SUV on Monday afternoon. The driver of the SUV sustained serious injuries in the incident.
According to senior police officials, the registering of the FIR got a little delayed as the family members of the two victims -- Preeti Jaggi and her daughter Angel -- refused to register any complaint in the matter. They said that the FIR was lodged on the complaint of one Mobeen, brother of the car driver, Sartaj Ahmad, who was grievously injured in the incident and is undergoing treatment at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
In the complaint, Mobeen has accused the Ekana management of negligently putting up the billboard in collaboration with an outdoor advertising agency near the boundary wall of the stadium that fell over the SUV around 4.30 pm. The FIR was lodged under Indian Penal Code sections 304-A (for causing death due to negligent act) and 338 (for causing grievous hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety).
Earlier on Monday, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) also said that it would lodge an FIR against the advertisement agency -- Origins --and the management of the Ekana Stadium for putting up the hoarding without securing permission from the civic body.
“The Lucknow Municipal Corporation served them with a notice to get its structural strength verified by experts a few months back but the Ekana management never responded to it. Now, in the wake of the accident on Monday, LMC will take stern action against the company which put up the hoarding and the Ekana management,” said chief tax fixation officer Ashok Singh, who is also the in-charge of the publicity department at LMC.
The senior official further added, “Lucknow Municipal Corporation has limited power when the hoarding is installed inside premises of a private property. We can only serve them notice.” According to initial reports, the billboard collapsed due to a technical fault. The iron frame, which was holding three billboards, came crashing down in the thunderstorm. The debris fell on the SUV that was parked below the billboard.
Managing Director of Ekana Sportz City, Uday Sinha, said that the billboard was put up by Origins advertising agency on a profit-sharing basis and it is the sole responsibility of the agency to maintain the unipole and his organisation has nothing to do with the incident.
“The incident has maligned the image of Ekana Sportz City. Therefore, we are going to file a defamation case against Origins. Besides, we have already handed over to the Lucknow district administration the ex-gratia of ₹10 lakh each for the family members of the two deceased while compensation of ₹5 lakh for the injured as well as the entire cost of his treatment will be met by us,” said Sinha.
