RWA president, his German Shepherd, killed in toilet wall collapse in Vasant Kunj

The 67-year-old president of the Vasant Kunj Enclave B Block residents’ welfare association and his German Shepherd dog were crushed to death after a portion of

The 67-year-old president of the Vasant Kunj Enclave B Block residents’ welfare association and his German Shepherd dog were crushed to death after a portion of the wall adjacent to their building collapsed on them on Monday evening, the police said.

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The elderly man, Pratap Singh Tanwar, had recovered from Covid-19 just last week and was relaxing in the lawn of his bungalow with his family when the mishap took place around 7pm on Monday, said his son Siddharth who escaped with minor injuries.

Siddharth accused the builder who constructed the four-storey building, as well as the owner of that floor, of negligence as well as not paying heed to their requests for safety. “In the past, construction material falling from the under-construction building had damaged our cars twice. This time, it claimed my father’s life,” said Siddharth.

The police have registered a first information report at Vasant Kunj South police station under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to causing death by negligence, negligent conduct with respect to repairing buildings and causing hurt by a rash act, said Ingit Pratap Singh, deputy commissioner of police (south-west).

The officer said that the house owner, Pankaj Singh Pundhir, has been arrested. “He is an ex-serviceman working with a private firm in Gurugram,” said Singh.

The Tanwar father-son duo ran an engineering instrumental company. Years ago, they had constructed a single-storey house and a lawn.

“Ten years ago, my father had started the RWA here. He had been its president ever since,” said Siddharth.

Other RWA members said Tanwar was an active man who worked hard to get basic facilities to the neighbourhood. “He would constantly complain about illegal constructions in the neighbourhood and about structures being erected beyond the permissible height, but no one cared to stop it,” said Manish Aggarwal, the RWA general secretary.

Tanwar’s family alleged that problems began soon after the construction of the neighbouring building commenced about three or four years ago.

“The builder didn’t follow the safety norms. We would complain about construction materials falling on our property, but he didn’t listen. They would also use substandard construction material,” alleged Siddharth in his police complaint.

Sometime last year, Siddharth alleged, the top floor was purchased by a man who about three months ago began constructing a toilet on the terrace. “The construction material continued falling on us, but he didn’t care about our request,” said Siddharth.

Around 7pm on Monday, the family was sitting in their lawn and had ordered food from a restaurant for the first time since the lockdown when a large portion of the wall of the bathroom on the top floor suddenly fell.

“The food was 15 minutes away when I heard a loud sound. I managed to jump away from the falling wall, but my father and our German Shepherd were crushed to death. My mother had a lucky escape as she had walked away from the lawn just moments earlier,” said Siddharth.

Siddharth and his father were rushed to the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre where the elderly man was declared brought dead.

The DCP said that further probe into the death is on.