Meerut: Angry mob says family was inside when building demolished, 4 killed
The angry mob in Meerut said the building was demolished by authorities while a family was still trying to vacate their belongings inside.
In Short
- 4 dead after building collapsed during anti-encroachment drive
- 5 rescued from under debris
- Cantonment board officials fled the place after collapse
Emotions are running high in Meerut city after four persons were killed on Saturday as they were buried under the debris of an "illegal" multi-storey building in cantonment area when it was being demolished by civic authorities.
Bungalow No 210, was demolished by the Cantonment Board authorities during an anti-encroachment drive during which a few people, who apparently were still in the building, were buried under the rubble. Four of them died while five were injured. They have been admitted to a hospital, Meerut Division Commissioner, Alok Sinha said.
The angry mob said the building was demolished by authorities while a family was still trying to vacate their belongings inside. Family members of the deceased said that they were not informed about the demolition. Locals said they were aware of a court saying the building was constructed illegally and had to be demolished, but that on Friday night they were given three days to vacate.
"A family was inside the building. I kept telling them to take their belongings and vacate the house. As they went inside to take their belongings, the building collapsed on them," said a local, Kuldeep.
Acting District Magistrate Dinesh Chand has ordered a magisterial enquiry by city magistrate Keshav Kumar and has given 15 days to submit a report.
According to Meerut Cantonment Board's Assistant Engineer, Piyush Gautam, "A prior notice was sent to its occupants to vacate the building as it had been illegally built. The area was marked for demolition and the timing of 3 am was decided."
"We even gave three more hours to the occupants to take out their belonging and began the demolition at 6 am only," he claimed.
According to officials, the building was a disputed property and the High Court had ordered its demolition.
Police have registered a complaint under section 302 (punishment for murder), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC in Sadar Bazar police station against Rajeev Shrivastav (CEO, Cantt Board Meerut), Anuj Singh (Executive Engineer), Piyush Gautam (Assistant Engineer), Yogesh Yadav, Arvind Gupta and Avdesh Yadav.
They have arrested Anuj Gupta and Piyush Gautam while teams have been formed to nab remaining accused.
Families of the victims staged a protest against the authorities and blocked Abu Lane and gheraoed Shrivastav's residence.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and party general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, Ghulam Nabi Azad met the families of the deceased and condemned the incident. He also demanded an enquiry into the case.
Congress spokesperson Nagma reached the spot and demanded compensation and jobs for the affected families.
Ex-State BJP president Laxmi Kant Bajpai also condemned the incident and asked for an enquiry and compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the families of the deceased.
The national rescue agency has joined the rescue operations in hopes of still finding people trapped alive under the rubble.
The injured were admitted in hospital after the rescue operation while the bodies have been sent for post-mortem.