The police investigation has disclosed that there was evidence to suggest that bribe was paid to some Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials to allow construction of the seven-storied building that crashed at Nanakramguda, claiming 11 lives. The permission for construction was not given.
It may be recalled that the government has already suspended a Deputy Commissioner, Assistant City Planner and two draftsmen of GHMC for failing to stop the construction.
A press release of Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crimes) of Cyberabad who is leading the investigation, said that it was established that the building owner T. Satyanarayana Singh alias Sattu Singh and his sons Anil Kumar Singh and Sankesh Singh constructed the building on a plan prepared by a civil engineer Allam Shivarama Krishna of Kukatpally and masonry executed by Bijja Venugopal of Borabanda “without proper plan, nor taking precautions and violating all norms”.
Satyanarayana Singh, Anil Kumar Singh, Shivarama Krishna and Venugopal were arrested. Investigation showed that though they were aware of the risk, they went ahead with construction precariously with a view to earn more money, risking the lives of workers who were engaged by the mason. The excavation behind the collapsed building was found to be very close to its footing, compromising its load-bearing capacity, the release said. Whether the excavation could have been a cause leading to the collapse is being looked into and a report on the same from experts is being awaited, it added. The structural design of a building constructed earlier is also being referred by the experts.
