Three held in crematorium case

25 people were killed when its roof collapsed in Ghaziabad

Three persons were arrested on Monday morning in connection with the crematorium roof collapse case in Ghaziabad’s Muradnagar area.

Twenty-five people died and at least 15 were injured when the roof of a gallery at the crematorium collapsed on Sunday.

Iraj Raja, Superintendent of Police (Rural), said the Ghaziabad police had arrested the executive officer of the municipality, Niharika Singh, along with junior engineer Chandrapal and supervisor Ashish. He said, contractor Ajay Tyagi was absconding and police teams were conducting raids to nab him.

The officials were booked under relevant sections of IPC, including 304 for causing death by negligence on Sunday evening on the complaint of the son of a deceased.

Mr. Tyagi was given the contract to renovate the crematorium a year back for ₹55 lakh by the Muradnagar municipality through e-tender. The work on the gallery whose roof collapsed on Sunday was completed last month and was inaugurated by the chairman of the municipality Vikas Tewatia only a few days back.

CM seeks report

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked for a report from divisional commissioner Meerut and ADG Meerut Zone on the incident.

Local sources alleged that Mr. Tyagi was part of a bureaucrat-contractor nexus. He lives in the posh Raj Nagar area of the city and was also the president of the Contractor Welfare Association of Ghaziabad. Sources in the administration said Mr. Tyagi’s firms could be blacklisted. Mr. Raja said looking into the alleged nexus is part of the investigation.

The Ghaziabad SSP has declared a reward of ₹25,000 for providing information about the contractor.

On Monday, families of six of the deceased blocked the Delhi-Meerut Highway by putting the bodies on the road leading to massive traffic jams in the area. They were demanding an increase in the compensation amount, a job for the kin and strict action against the guilty.

After six hours, Divisional Commissioner and I-G of Meerut reached the spot and agreed to increase the compensation to ₹10 lakh.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav criticised the State government for indulging in corrupt practices in construction of even a crematorium.