Zee Media Bureau
Mumbai: The death toll in the Mumbai residencial building collapse has risen to 61 as more bodies were recovered from debris on Sunday morning.
Due to weather constraints, the rescue operations were called off early Sunday.
The police on Saturday arrested the owner of a decoration company for illegally carrying out renovation work at his officer at the ground floor of the ill-fated structure.
It is suspected that the renovation and alteration works carried out on the ground floor led to the collapse of the four-storey building owned by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Mazgaon area, police said. Part of the ground floor had been leased out for commercial activities.
"Ashok Mehta, the owner of Mamamiya Decorators, was arrested for renovating his office-cum-warehouse on the ground floor of the building, thus causing the collapse," said an officer at Sewree police station, where a complaint has been registered.
Mehta had taken the office space on lease from BMC.
According to the complaint by a Deputy Superintendent of BMC, Mehta had carried out alteration and renovation works without prior permission from the civic body and this had triggered the tragic incident, said Additional Police Commissioner Krishna Prakash.
Mehta and his associates were booked under IPC Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), among others.
Around 21 families, which were BMC`s tenants, lived in the 30-year-old structure which caved in yesterday morning. It was categorised as a C-2 building, which meant it was in need of urgent repairs.
(With PTI inputs)
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.