The contractor, Ajay Tyagi, who was on run after the roof of crematorium collapsed in Muradnagar which claimed 24 lives on Sunday, was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh (UP) police on Tuesday. Police said that a reward of Rs 25,000 was also declared on information leading to his arrest.
Twenty-four people, most of them attending a funeral, were killed and 17 others injured when the roof of a shelter at the cremation ground in Muradnagar collapsed on Sunday.
Ghaziabad Police had on Monday arrested Muradnagar Nagar Palika Executive Officer Niharika Singh, Junior Engineer Chandra Pal and Supervisor Ashish as they were involved in the tendering process for building the structure. They were sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
According to a senior police official, the contractor Tyagi, who went into hiding after news of the collapse spread, was nabbed near the Ganga canal bridge of Sathedi village by a joint team of Muradnagar and Niwari police.
Police said that Tyagi has been booked under various sections of the law, and he will be produced before a court on Tuesday.
A tender of Rs 55 lakh and not Rs 55 crore as reported earlier, was awarded to Tyagi for renovation and construction of shelter three months ago, and the shelter was opened to the public 15 days back.
The senior police official said a probe was underway to examine how much substandard material was used in the construction”. After the investigation, corruption charges would be added in the case,” he added.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Tuesday, the UP Government said that the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed that the National Security Act (NSA) be slapped against the accused persons. He also directed that loss of public money during the construction work be recovered from the contractor and engineers."
He also announced that a financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh be provided to each of the kin of the deceased, and homeless affected families be provided a home.