Contractor booked for culpable homicide

Kharar: A day after an under-construction three – storey commercial building in Kharar collapsed, leaving one dead and 10 injured, police have booked the contractor for culpable homicide.
The accused has been identified as Dinesh Kumar, a resident of Saidpura, Mohali.
As per information, the three-storey building was being constructed for showrooms. The labourers were reportedly laying the roof of the third floor when it came crashing down, bringing down the other floors with it.
As per officials, the construction was being carried out in haste as the work on the third floor had been started even before the cement on the first and second floors had dried up. Labourers present at the spot too had claimed that safety measures were not being followed.
On why the building owner was not booked, a senior police officer said the owner had given construction contract to Kumar and was not building it himself. “Besides, the owner told us that it was the contractor who was in a hurry to finish the work quickly so as to save on labour costs,” added the officer. The cop said that samples of the building material have also been collected from the spot to check the quality.
Kumar has been booked under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of Indian Penal Code (IPC). Kharar city station house officer Harjinder Singh said, “Had the necessary safety measures been taken, the loss of life could have been avoided.”