Cuffe Parade ceiling collapse case: Owner of under-construction house held

Following the incident of ceiling collapse of an under-construction house at Cuffe Parade on Saturday, in which a 19-year old labourer was killed and five others were left injured, the Cuffe Parade police have arrested the house's owner.

The owner has been identified as Ram Pyarelal Kanojia, 39, a resident of Ganesh Murti Nagar at Cuffe Parade.

According to the police, the mishap took place between 9.30 am and 9.45 am on Saturday. The labourers were constructing a ground-plus-one structure of close to 150 square feet at the time of the accident. "The workers were laying foundation of iron bars and placing bricks over the ceiling. It was raining profusely. The bricks soaked water and become three times heavier than their original weight. The iron bars slipped under the weight and collapsed on the top of workers," said a police officer.

While 19-year-old Mushraf Shaikh was brought dead to hospital, co-workers Mohammed Kalam, 45, Sudeep Hazara, 29, Yusuf Shaikh, 39, Shohrat Shaikh, 18 and Menar Shaikh, 33 sustained grievous head injuries. The victims hail from Murshidabad district in West Bengal.

A case of causing death due to negligence was registered against Kanojia, after which the latter was arrested.