The death toll in collapse of a six-storey building in Gujarat's Surat city rose to seven on July 7.
The dilapidated residential building, located in the Pal area, collapsed at about 2.45 p.m. on Saturday, the police said.
A collector of rent from the building’s occupants has been arrested, sources in the police said.
Several migrant textile workers and their families were tenants in the building.
According to the FIR, the dilapidated building was mostly vacant as the earlier occupants had left due to the danger it posed.
The death toll in collapse of a six-storey building in Gujarat's Surat city rose to seven on July 7. More than a dozen people were injured in the incident.
The police have lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against the builders. It was poor quality construction that led to the collapse of the six storey building. The dilapidated residential building, located in the Pal area, collapsed at about 2.45 p.m. on Saturday, the police said.
A collector of rent from the building’s occupants has been arrested, sources in the police said. He, along with two owners of the building, has been booked on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Several migrant textile workers and their families were tenants in the building.
A team from the National Disaster Response Force, two teams from the State Disaster Response Force, police personnel, and the Fire Brigade were involved in the rescue operation, Surat police said in a media statement.
After an operation that lasted about three hours, they managed to rescue Kashish Sharma (23), and rushed her to the New Civil Hospital, where her condition is said to be stable.
The body of a man was pulled out from the site on Saturday night, an official had earlier said.
“Seven dead bodies have been recovered and sent for post mortem to the hospital,” Rajesh Parmar, Surat Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 6, said, adding that a woman had been saved.
The deceased, most of them migrant textile workers from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, have been identified as Hiraman Kevat (40), Abhishek (35), Brijesh God (50), Shivpujan Kevat (26), Anmol Harijan (17), Parvesh Kevat (21), and Lalji Kevat (40).
An FIR has been registered under the relevant Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections, including Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), against the building’s owners Raj Kakadiya and his mother Ramilaben Kakadiya, and one Ashwin Vekariya, who collected rent from the occupants, the police said.
Mr. Vekariya has been arrested and efforts are underway to nab the two other accused, the police said.
According to the FIR, the dilapidated building was mostly vacant as the earlier occupants had left due to the danger it posed. A few families, however, continued to live there on rent.
On April 26, the Surat Municipal Corporation had issued notice to the building’s owner to have it vacated due to its dilapidated condition, the FIR said.
Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said the building was less than 10 years old, and had been built in 2016-17.
