2 flat owners booked for painter's death in lift crash

Police have booked two residents of Rajeshwari Apartment, Malleswaram, and the owner of a lift company for criminal negligence over the death of a painter on Wednesday.

Somashekar and Sheshadri have been identified as the residents at whose behest the lift was illegally installed. H V Raja, the owner of Bhaskara Advanced Automation — which manufactures custom-built material handling systems, personal lifts for disabled, aged people and heart patients — is the third suspect. All the three have been booked under IPC section 304 A (causing death by negligence) since the lift was installed as an external accessory to the four-storied building at the behest of Somashekar and Sheshadri.

Venkatesh (53), the victim, was painting the wall along which runs the lift in an open shaft without any grille. Someone took the lift to go to the ground floor. But Venkatesh didn’t see it coming and was crushed to death.

Four families live in the residential complex. Since two of them live on the ground floor and do not need the lift, police excluded from the FIR.

According to police, Somashekar and Sheshadri who have duplex houses had approached Raja for the installation of the lift. The lift was installed recently.

Raja said his firm was a registered entity and that it had obtained all statutory permissions and certificates. He said he had submitted the copies of the certificates to the police. “We offer custom-built lift services for disabled, aged people and heart patients in old buildings in the city,” he told DH.

Electrical inspectorate officials who visited the apartment said the lift was installed illegally as any multi-storied building requiring an elevator service must incorporate it in the design and plans. But in this case, neither did the builder approach the electrical inspectorate for permission nor has the building plan any provision for a lift service.

The Malleswaram police said they would take up the matter with electrical inspectorate officials and issue a notice to the builder to either remove the lift or regularise it if there is a provision in the law.

Police are also inquiring with the firm whether it has installed similar lifts elsewhere.