Garden Reach building collapse: Landowner held
a: The police have arrested the owner of the land on which the building was being built in Garden Reach that collapsed on Sunday night.
The promoter of the illegal construction, that took away the lives of 10 people, was held on Monday.
On Tuesday a second FIR was registered in connection with the Garden Reach building collapse and the owner of the land was identified as Md Sarfaraz alias Pappu.
He was produced at the Alipore Court on Wednesday and has been remanded to police custody till April 1.
On Wednesday during Sarfaraz’s production, the public prosecutor claimed that substandard materials were used for the construction of the building and the owner of the land needed to be interrogated to find out whether there was any collaboration between him and the promoter.
Moreover, suspicions have been raised regarding the potential involvement of others in the illegal construction.
The prosecution further informed the court that forensic experts have already collected samples from the debris and the results of the forensic examination would soon be presented in court. Despite appeals for bail from the defense counsel, it was rejected.
It may be mentioned that on Sunday night a five-storey building at Azhar Molla Bagan in Garden Reach collapsed on a few shanties.
Ten persons were killed in the building collapse incident and one is claimed to be missing to date. The Disaster Management Group (DMG) personnel along with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescued the injured persons and recovered the bodies from under the debris.
NDRF and DMG personnel are still searching for the person who is claimed to be missing. The promoter, Md Wasim, who was arrested on Monday is in police custody.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has sought a report from the state Chief Secretary on the subject of Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim announcing a compensation of 5 lakh for the next of kin
of the deceased.
The BJP on Monday had lodged a complaint with the Commission of Model Code of Conduct violation with the announcement
of compensation.
