Govt recommends magisterial probe into 10-year-old’s death

NEW DELHI: Water minister Kapil Mishra has recommended a magisterial inquiry into the death of a 10-year-old boy, who died after he fell into a 10-foot ditch filled

NEW DELHI: Water minister Kapil Mishra has recommended a magisterial inquiry into the death of a 10-year-old boy, who died after he fell into a 10-foot ditch filled with rainwater in north Delhi’s Burari area on Wednesday night.

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In his letter to deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Mishra has recommended an inquiry to be conducted by the area district magistrate, ADM or SDM as considered appropriate and report submitted by July 27.

Police said Justin Mesih, a resident of Baba Colony, was playing with his friends when he saw a kite landing on a vacant plot and rushed to grab it. Local residents said the Delhi Jal Board dug up the pit there to store rainwater.

But jal board officials said they had transferred the land a year ago to power discom NDPL for setting up a power substation.

“The incident is extremely unfortunate and sad. At the same time, it was purely avoidable. Surely, such lapses, which have the potential of endangering lives of citizens, cannot be allowed to go unpunished. Truth must be found out and responsibility fixed for this lapse,” Mishra said in the letter.

“Though the child cannot be brought back to life but it must be our endeavour to ensure that such incidents do not recur. It is, therefore, essential to find out the agency/official responsible for this lapse so that corrective steps can be taken,” the letter said.

Mishra, in his letter, said that he had sought a report from DJB after the incident and it was reported that “the site is question was handed over to NDPL for construction of substation around one year back. He further said that steps which are required to be taken to prevent recurrence of such incident should also be included in the terms of reference of the probe committee.

The power discom, however, rubbished the charges. “The land where the accident occurred does not fall into our jurisdiction. It is true that DJB transferred land to us for the construction of a power substation but it is not the land from where the incident was reported. We have also conveyed this to the Delhi Police,” an NDPL official said.