Dera Bassi tragedy: Charges in FIR ‘concocted’, claim suspects in bail plea

Gaurav Kanthwal

Mohali, April 28

Father-son duo Puthampurackal Mohammed Hameed, 66, and Mohammed Shahid Hameed, 36, two of the three persons booked in connection with the death of workers at Federal Agro Industries Private Limited, Behera, Dera Bassi, due to asphyxiation, have claimed in their bail application the brother of one of the victims has “concocted” a story in the FIR and that they have no role in the April 21 accident.

A Mohali court has asked the police to file its response in the matter and scheduled hearing of their bail application for tomorrow.

Father-son duo from Kerala

• Firm GM PM Hameed and his son Shahid Hameed (director) belong to Alappuzha, Kerala, and stay at an upscale housing colony in Dera Bassi
• Bail plea says they are directors/ promoters of Federal Agro Industry Private Ltd, a subsidiary of Agra-based HMA Agro Industries, a buffalo meat exporter

Four persons had died in a septic tank one by one while cleaning it. The police had booked owner Qamil Kureshi, alias Bunty; GM PM Hameed and director Mohammed Shahid Hameed under Sections 304 and 34 of the IPC. None of the three has been arrested so far.

According to the documents submitted in the court, firm director Shahid Hameed, and general manager PM Hameed hail from Alappuzha in Kerala and stay at an upscale housing colony in Dera Bassi.

In their bail application, the two claimed regular cleaning of tank was carried out by a specialised agency. The victims were employees of the agency and were trained in carrying out the job. Further, eight types of protective equipment, including respiratory protection, were provided to workers, they claimed.

They stated they were the directors/promoters of Federal Agro Industry Private Limited, a subsidiary of Agra-based HMA Agro Industries, an exporter of fresh-frozen boneless halal Indian buffalo meat.

“The director has to promote and oversee the management of the company, which has many departments being managed by the head of each department,” the bail application read.

It further stated: “Whence the inevitable incident took place, the petitioner was at his house in Dera Bassi on the occasion of Eid. After the accident, he took the victims to the nearest hospital.”

GM Hameed averred he had old age ailments and suffered from a 50% disability (orthopaedic) and might suffer tremendous hardship if sent to custody.

The petitioners stated the offence was governed by Sections 92 and 83 of the Factories Act, 1948, and the police for “some oblique motives” had added Section 304 of the IPC.