Sub-contractor, son arrested for death of five workers on Delhi-Meerut Road

The Ghaziabad police, on Tuesday, arrested a sub-contratcor and his son in a case related to the death of five daily wage earners who died in a road accident on

The Ghaziabad police, on Tuesday, arrested a sub-contratcor and his son in a case related to the death of five daily wage earners who died in a road accident on Delhi-Meerut Road in the wee hours of Monday. The seven daily wagers, two of whom escaped with fractures, were returning from the work site of municipal corporation’s streetlight project around 2.15am when their vehicle toppled.

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The police identified the man driving the tractor-trolley as Shahrukh and his father, the sub-contractor, as Naseem Ahmad, who had roped in the men for the work. The two were arrested by the Muradnagar police.

The police on Tuesday claimed that the sub-contractor’s 25-year-old son was behind the wheel of the tractor-trolley, which got disbalanced, leading to the accident.

“Suspect Shahrukh told us that there was a heated exchange of words between him and the workers whom he forced to work till late on Monday. The work was called off at 2am. When the workers sat in the tractor to go home, Shahrukh chose to drive the vehicle instead allowing the regular driver to take the wheel,” superintendent of police (rural) Neeraj Kumar Jadaun said.

Based on the complaint lodged by the families of the deceased, the police changed IPC sections in the FIR from 304A (death by negligence) to Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). The police also added provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to the case.

“Shahrukh’s father was also arrested. We were told that he had threatened and abused the workers and asked them to work till late in the night. Both have been arrested in connection with the case,” Jadaun said.

Four of five deceased were natives of Meerut, while the fifth was from Saharanpur.