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6 arrested after 14 die in Gujarat picnic boat capsize
Senior police officials said that a special investigation team to probe the harrowing incident has also been formed.
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Police have arrested six people, including three promoters of the firm that was awarded the contract to develop and maintain the Harni lake as a tourist destination, a day after 14 people including twelve school children and two teachers died after a boat capsized in the water body in Vadodara on Thursday evening. Senior police officials said that a special investigation team to probe the harrowing incident has also been formed, which will work in addition to the magisterial enquiry ordered by chief minister Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday.
Also Read | 12 students, 2 teachers dead as boat capsizes in Vadodara lake
Senior police officials said that it was becoming increasingly clear that there were multiple lapses on the part of the company “Kotia Project” responsible for operations and oversight in the tourist destination. “The boat, designed to accommodate 14 persons, was egregiously overcrowded with more than 30 individuals, and, regrettably, safety jackets were not provided to everyone. Fortunately, the children and one teacher who did have safety jackets have all survived,” Anupam Singh Gahlaut, Vadodara commissioner of police, Vadodara told HT.
On Friday, Gahlaut ordered the formation of a special investigation team, headed by Joint Commissioner of Police, Manoj Ninama to look for the remaining 12 accused, who have been named in the FIR lodged at Harni police station late on Thursday. The order constituting the SIT states that the team has been formed to “conduct a deep inquiry into all aspects of the case and also ensure that all (18) accused are arrested in the case at the earliest”. The case has also been transferred from Harni police station to the Crime Branch.
“We have arrested six accused including three of the partners of Kotia Project and the other three are staff members of the company. There are about 15 partners in the firm and a case has been registered against all of them. More names are likely to crop up in the coming days,” said Gahlaut.
The three arrested partners of the firm include Bhimsing Yadav (42), Rashmikant Prajapati (51) and Vedprakash Yadav (55). The other three accused are two boatmen and one person who was part of the managerial staff of “Lake Zone.”
Also Read | Safety lapses alleged in Gujarat boat tragedy: ‘No rescuers, life jackets’
Kotia Project is a Vadodara-based partnership firm which was in 2017 awarded work to develop Harni Lake on a public-private partnership basis by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC). As per the terms of the agreement, Kotia Project was to invest, finance, design, engineer, construct, equip, commission, operate, market, maintain and manage the Lake Zone project for a concession period of 30 years. HT has seen a copy of the agreement. The Harni Lake was redeveloped and opened to the public in 2019.
Senior officials said preliminary investigations have revealed that the district education officer, Rakesh Vyas, who also holds the charge for District Primary Officer, was not informed of the plan, in violation of education department norms that schools must notify the DEO/DPO of trips or excursions for school students.
Russi Wadia, trustee of New Sunrise School, from where the students and teachers were, said that an organisation called “One Time Arena, Lake View”, which is also run by Kotia, approached the school and proposed hosting their picnic at their venue. “They assured us of their capabilities as a large organization with restaurants and facilities, so we trusted them and took our students there. They managed the bus service, food, and fun rides. The problem arose when they overcrowded the boat, despite protests from our teachers who urged them not to do so. Our teacher, Mansi, informed them that only 7-8 students were provided with life jackets, and the teachers were not given any. But they did not listen and started the boat trip,” Wadia said.
Senior police officials said that the FIR was registered under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 337 (rash or negligent act endangering human life) and 114 (abettor present when crime committed) of the Indian Penal Code. The role of officials of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation itself will also be probed, officials said.
