Contractor held in Chembur toilet blast case

The RCF police have arrested the contractor of a public toilet in Chembur’s Vashi Naka, where an explosion of sewer gases led to a fire, injuring four women and a six-year-old girl, on Friday.

“A resident of Bharat Nagar slum colony, Jai Sriram Ganesh Mitra Mandal chief Vennu Reddy, 38, was arrested under sections 336 (act of endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code,” said sub-inspector of RCF police station Kiran Gadve.

The blast took place around 6.45am on the ground floor of the building in the slum colony.

The BMC, which has entrusted the responsibility of maintaining the toilet to the mandal for three years, said it will probe the matter. It is suspected that the structure may be faulty, leaving no space for exhaustion of gas.