1 held after labourer dies in mishap

On May 1, while the world was celebrating International Labour Day, a labourer died after a crane fell on him at a construction site. The labourer hails from Punjab and his family was told by the Colaba police on Monday morning to come to Mumbai to claim his body. The police has registered a case of negligence in the matter and also arrested the crane operator.

The incident took place on Sunday near the Naval dockyard in Colaba area. According to Vinay Gadgil, senior police inspector of Colaba police station, construction work was going on at a site near the dockyard. The deceased, Karnal Singh, was assigned to work with crane operator Mazhar Bhakar (32). Around 1 pm during the work Singh was below the crane when it was lifting 12 tonnes of crushed stones. Suddenly, the crane lost its balance and Singh was crushed by the crane and the material. Singh suffered major injuries to his chest and head and was immediately rushed to the nearby Bombay Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.

Later officials registered a case under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code for causing death by rashness or negligence and spoke to the other people present at the site. During the investigation, officials found out that the crane was being operated negligently, and it was started without even checking whether anyone was below it. On Sunday late evening, officials arrested Bhakar from the site. Bhakar was produced in a local court on Monday and was granted bail by the court on Rs 25,000.