Pune slab collapse case: No pre-arrest bail for four builders

Pune, Aug 7: A local court today refused pre-arrest bail to four partners of the Park Xpress housing project in Balewadi where nine labourers were killed after a slab of an allegedly unauthorised floor collapsed on July 29.

Police have registered a case of negligence against four builder-partners -- Arvind Jain, Shravan Agarwal, Kailash Wani and Shyam Shende -- apart from six others. The four partners had filed anticipatory bail applications fearing arrest, but Additional Sessions Judge P Y Ladekar rejected them today.

District government pleader Ujjwala Pawar opposed the bail plea saying that three survivors of the incident had told police that builders, contractors and those supervising the work did not pay heed to repeated warnings about insufficient safety measures, inadequate centering and shuttering support.

Pawar later said the court rejected the plea on the ground that prima facie no safety measures had been put in place at the site, and the 13th floor, where the slab crashed, was allegedly unauthorised.

The court noted that the four applicants cannot shirk their responsibilities by saying that the work was being carried out by an outsider contractor. So far, Pune police have arrested contractor Bhavin Harshad Shah, project in-charge of Park Xpress joint venture Dnyaneshwar Chavan and Santosh Chavan, and Shrikant Kisan Pawar, an employee.

PTI