Police book swing operator, staff after joyride collapse kills cop, injures 11 at Surajkund fair in Faridabad

Faridabad: Police in Faridabad have registered an FIR against a swing operator and his staff, a day after an on-duty inspector died and 11 others got injured when a giant ‘Tsunami’ swing snapped mid-air and collapsed at the Surajkund fairgrounds here, officials said.

The accused have been booked under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the BNS at the Surajkund police station, they said.

The tragedy struck the Surajkund International Crafts Mela on Saturday evening, when about 19 people were riding the swing before it suddenly tilted and then crashed onto the ground.

Inspector Jagdish Prasad, who joined the Haryana Armed Police in 1989 and was to retire in March after completing 36 years in the force, showed great bravery in trying to save those trapped in the swing, but received severe injuries in the process, leading to his death, a senior officer said.

The main accused in the FIR has been identified as Mohammad Shakir, the proprietor of Himachal Fun Care, which operated the giant swing that snapped, from Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmour district, police said.

Police have formed a four-member special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the case, headed by DCP (Crime) Mukesh Kumar, with ACP (Crime) Varun Dahiya, and sub-inspector Sanjay Kumar from the Surajkund police station as members, a senior police officer said.

The SIT has been tasked with carrying out a detailed probe into the incident, including fixing responsibility for negligence, if any, and evaluating the safety compliance measures.

According to the complaint filed by Assistant Sub-inspector Sunny, he was present at the fairground with Inspector Prasad when many people were seen enjoying the ‘Tsunami’ swing ride.

As the swing snapped mid-air, Prasad was seen trying to rescue those trapped in the swing. However, the swing suddenly collapsed after breaking from one side, and fell on them.

Prasad, who was awarded the Police Medal by the Haryana governor in 2019-20, suffered serious injuries and died at a hospital later.

“The death of the inspector was caused due to the deliberate endangerment of people's lives by Himachal Fun Fair’s proprietor Mohammad Shakir and his staff, who did not maintain the safety standards,” the ASI said in his complaint.

The district administration has informed that the fair will continue on Sunday, with the swing area closed pending further investigation.