Metro pillar collapse: Police file chargesheet against construction firm, 10 engineers

A two-and-a-half-year-old boy, and his mother lost their lives when a staging column of the metro pillar collapsed on January 10.

Tejaswini L Sulakhe. Credit: Special Arrangement

Investigating the metro pillar collapse on the Outer Ring Road in HBR Layout that killed two people in January, police filed a charge sheet in the 11th ACMM Court on Wednesday afternoon.

The charge sheet names Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) Limited, and 10 engineers from NCC and Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), confirmed Bheemashankar S Guled, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East).

Also Read: 2-year-old boy, mother killed after under-construction metro pillar collapses in Bengaluru

“We have sought permission from the Ministry of Railways to prosecute the BMRCL chief engineer, which has been mentioned in the charge sheet,” Guled said.

Vihan L Sulakhe, a two-and-a-half-year-old boy, and his mother Tejaswini L Sulakhe (28) lost their lives when a staging column of the metro pillar collapsed on January 10.

IIT-Hyderabad assisted the police in preparing a report on the incident, which has been submitted to the court along with the charge sheet, the police official said. The report mentioned that the engineers did not follow the appropriate design for the column supporting the metro pillar.

The investigating officer, police inspector Satish HS from the Govindapura police station, filed an 835-page charge sheet in court. The charge sheet includes approximately 2,000 pages, including the IIT report, bylaws, and other documents. The case involves around 80 witnesses.

The charge sheet has been filed against NCC (represented by its managing director); Vikas Kumar Singh, project manager; A Mathaiah, senior project manager; Prabhakara Mali, junior engineer; safety supervisor Bharatesh Sattigeri; and site supervisor K Laxmipathi Raju.

The BMRCL officials named are deputy chief engineer D Venkatesh Shetty; executive chief engineer Mahesh; section engineer Zafar Sadiq; junior engineer Jeevan Kumar; and chief engineer C M Ranganath.

While C M Ranganath is a central government employee, prosecution permission has to be sought from the Ministry of Railways. Once the permission is given, the police will file an additional charge sheet against him.

The others are contract-based employees, a senior police officer said. The accused have obtained regular bail from the court.