Kolkata flyover collapse: Ten IVRCL executives held

Kolkata/Hyderabad: Three more bodies were pulled out from the debris of the collapsed under-construction flyover in Girish Park, taking the death toll to 24 on Friday as the Kolkata Police slapped murder charge under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the accused executives of the Hyderabad-based construction company IVRCL and detained 10 of them for questioning in the city.

Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar confirmed of the addition of the murder charge to the case. The city police also formed a 23-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe the incident, said joint commissioner of police (crime) Debashish Boral. The SIT comprises officers from the homicide section and anti-rowdy section of the Kolkata Police’s detective department (DD) headed by Mr Boral.

A four-member SIT team reached Hyderabad and sought help of the Hyderabad police to trace the firm and its officials.

Kolkata team raids IVRCL offices
A four-member police team from Kolkata arrived in Hyderabad on Friday to raid the IVRCL office and question its officials following the flyover mishap in Kolkata that claimed 25 lives on Thursday.

According to senior police officials from Hyderabad, the Kolkata police has booked a case against the firm’s management, including serious charges of culpable homicide. IVRCL officials have said they will cooperate with the team.

The Kolkata team raided the company’s office at Banjara Hills, searching for files and documents related to IVRCL’s flyover project in Kolkata, which collapsed on Thursday.

The cops are also questioning the top officials of the firm.  The company management on Friday claimed that the incident was an accident and they had taken all the necessary security measures.

Kolkata police issued notices under CrPC 41 to at least eight people including HR director Panduranga Rao, director operations G.V.K. Murthy and independent Ashok Reddy, Balarami Reddy and other independent directors.