Mumbai: Rajkumar Gounder, who had supplied JCB demolition vehicles to the contractor, might have escaped unhurt had the building collapsed a few minutes later. Gounder, 35, a father of four, had visited the site for 15 minutes and was on his way out when a portion of the building came crashing down.
“Eyewitnesses told us that Gounder came to the building to check on the four JCB demolition vehicles he had supplied, and to collect payment from the contractor. However, the contractor was not available at the time and he decided to come back later. He made it till the first floor, where he was last seen by some of the rescued labourers, when a portion collapsed,” Senior PI Avinash Dharmadhikari, Saki Naka police station, said.
When Gounder could not be found after the collapse, police traced his last cellular location to the site, indicating he might be trapped under the debris. His motorbike was also found parked outside the premises, said officers. Rescue officials said while initially there was a chance of Gounder being rescued alive, the possibility turned bleak as time passed. NDRF officers said if not the sheer weight of the debris or the iron rods jutting out of it, suffocation could have killed him by now.
Gounder's brother Laxman, who came to know of the collapse on TV, flew down from Chennai on Sunday morning. “Rajkumar has four young daughters to take care of. We have all been distraught since Saturday,” he said.
