Sambhal cold storage owners arrested from Uttarakhand

PTI

Sambhal (UP), March 18

Police have arrested the two owners of a cold storage here where 14 people were killed and several injured after the building’s roof collapsed, a senior official said on Saturday.

The two were arrested from Haldwani district in Uttarakhand, he said.

Twenty-four people were pulled out of the rubble of the collapsed structure on Indira Road under Chandausi police station limits and 14 of them died, according to officials.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has set up a committee to probe the reasons behind the collapse, which took place on Thursday.

“The owners of the cold storage, Ankur Agarwal and Rohit Agarwal, have been arrested from Haldwani,” Sambhal District Magistrate Manish Bansal told PTI on Saturday.

“Taking cognizance of the incident, the chief minister had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased. But, now, this has been merged with the Mukhyamantri Krishak Yojana, and they will get Rs 5 lakh each,” he said.

The DM further said a magisterial probe has been ordered into the incident.

A three-member team has been constituted, which will probe whether any cold storage has been built in the district violating the norms, Bansal said.

Police had registered a case under section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code against Ankur and Rohit on Thursday.

According to police, the collapsed roof was built only three months ago without the necessary permission from the administration and the quantity of potatoes stored at the cold storage was beyond its prescribed capacity.

The state government had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased, Rs 50,000 for those critically injured and free treatment for all those who suffered injuries in the incident.

The government has asked the probe committee, led by the divisional commissioner and comprising the DIG of Moradabad, to submit its report at the earliest.

Sambhal is around 158 km from Delhi and 350 km from the state capital Lucknow.

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