Lucknow: Two women were confirmed dead a day after a four-storey residential building collapsed in Lucknow, police said on Wednesday, adding that a case has been registered against three people in connection with the incident.
At least 14 people, who were trapped under the debris of Aliyah Apartments in Hazratganj area, have been rescued and admitted to hospital so far, a senior police officer said.
The deceased women have been identified as Begum Haider (75) and Uzma Talha (35) — the mother and wife of Samajwadi Party (SP) national spokesperson Abbas Haider.
Both women were pulled out of the debris after an overnight rescue operation — involving teams of NDRF, SDRF, police and fire brigade — and admitted to Lucknow civil hospital on Wednesday morning. While Begum Haider died while undergoing treatment, her daughter-in-law was pronounced brought dead by the hospital.
“She (Uzma Talha) passed away before we could do anything,” said Dr Anil Ojha, director, Lucknow civil hospital.
A first information report (FIR) was registered at the Hazratganj police station against three people in connection with the case, said Lucknow police commissioner SB Shiradkar.
“FIR has been lodged against Nawajish Shahid, Mohammad Tariq and Fahad Yazdan of Yazdan developer,” said Shiradkar.
Nawajish Shahid, the son of SP legislator and former minister Shahid Manzoor, was picked up from Meerut and brought to Lucknow where he was subsequently arrested, the officer said.
“Multiple teams have been constituted to arrest the remaining two accused, who are absconding,” said Shiradkar.
The apartment was constructed around 2009-10 by the Yazdan developer, the same builder whose illegal under-construction apartment on Prag Narayan Road in the city was demolished by the Lucknow Development Authority in December last year.
Nawajish Shahid is alleged to be the owner of the land on which the building stood. His father Shahid Manzoor is the Samajwadi Party legislator representing Kithore assembly constituency in Meerut district.
The accused have been booked under sections 323 (voluntary causing hurt), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 420 (fraud) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, a senior police officer said.
“The reasons for the collapse of the building could not be ascertained yet and experts will look into it,” said the police commissioner. “This probe is a technical issue.”
Meanwhile, the Lucknow administration have started clearing the debris after the over 18-hour-long rescue operation — also involving police and fire brigade teams — ended on Wednesday afternoon.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday ordered a time-bound inquiry into the incident that took place around 7pm on Tuesday on Wazir Hasan Road.
“The chief minister has constituted a three-member committee that will submit its report within a week,” said Sharadkar.
The committee — comprising divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob, Lucknow joint police commissioner Piyush Mordia and chief engineer of the PWD — has been asked to fix accountability for the tragedy, the officer added.
