The site of the collapsed building.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The death toll of construction workers trapped in the building that collapsed in Bengaluru on Wednesday evening rose to eight, officials said.
One was found dead on Tuesday evening and four people were declared dead on Wednesday morning. Three more dead bodies were recovered by the evening.
Two more — Gajendra and Elumalai – are suspected to be buried in the debris. Search operations were on.
Elumalai was the latest building contractor who was also named in the FIR. Fourteen people were rescued as of 9 pm.
Hennur police during the day arrested the property owners Muni Reddy and his son Bhuvan Reddy. Muniappa, who was the contractor till the construction of the fourth floor of the building, was also arrested.
The developments were confirmed by D Devaraj, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East).
The deceased are Arman, 26; Sri Ran Kirupal, 35; Mohamed Sahil, 19; and Solo Paswan from Bihar; Manikantan and Satyaraju, 25, from Tamil Nadu; Tulasi Reddy from Andhra Pradesh and Pulchan Yadav from Uttar Pradesh.
Police said Jagadevi, 50; Okil Pashwan; Nagaraju, 25; Ramesh Kumar, 28; Arman, 22; and Ayaz, 40, were being treated at three city hospitals.
Jagadevi and Ayaz are said to be critical, the rest are stable. Fire department sources said Ayaz was stuck for nearly 13 hours before he was rescued by the fire and emergency and NDRF personnel.
Seven others — Arman, 25, Jisan, 22, Mohammed Sahil, Rashid, 25, Sitare, 30, Iltaf, 40, Sohil, from Bihar and Pradeep Reddy from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh — were also rescued.
The ground plus six floors built on a 60x40 site in Anjanadri Layout in Babusapalya under Hennur police station limits collapsed around 3.40 pm. Fire and Emergency Services were alerted at 4.10 pm.
The case was registered under BNS Sections 100 (culpable homicide), 105 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 125(a and b) (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 270 (public nuisance).
Sections 326 (violation of act), 327 (violation of rules) and 328 (violation of regulations) of The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Act and section 3 (prior registration of real estate project) of Real Estate Regulatory Authority Act were also invoked.
The FIR was filed on Tuesday based on a complaint by Mohammed Arshad, one of the injured labourers. In the FIR, it was alleged that cheap construction material was used “to save money” and no safety protocols were followed.
A suo motu action against the responsible BBMP officials was also initiated by the Karnataka Lokayukta.