I am innocent, says jeweller

Kailash Jain, the 39-year-old owner of Vardhaman Jewellers, who has been blamed for the collapse of the building at Borivili, said he had not done anything wrong. “The society is framing me,” he claimed.

Jain was booked on Thursday, based on allegations made by society residents that he had tampered with the support beam while carrying out repairs in his ground floor shops, which led to the collapse.

However, Jain maintained that the pillar was not touched during renovation work. “We were replastering the place and getting the furniture redone,” he said. Interestingly, he claimed the society had given him permission to carry out the work. “I also issued them two checks of Rs1,000 each for the work.”

Jain, who had three shops (galas 4, 5, 6) in the building, claimed that work at one of his shops — previously leased to one Darshan Electric — began only three days before the building collapsed. “I did not attempt to ground the partition between the shops.”

He added, “Why would I tamper the beam when my own family stayed on the first floor. My family is going through hell. And these false allegations are only adding to my worries. I am innocent.”

Society office bearer Moolchand Cheeda admitted that the society had taken a deposit amount of Rs2,000 from the jeweller, but denied that he was given permission for the renovation work. Though, Jain was summoned by the police, he is yet to report at the police station as he is in Nashik.