Case against Land Owner, Developer of Carlton Towers Registered

A case has been registered against the land owner and the developer of Carlton Towers, which saw a tragic fire incident on Tuesday in which nine people were killed and 50 others injured, reported DNA.

The local police registered the case, though Bangalore city police commissioner Shankar M Bidari is trying to study the future course of action, said report.

According to Bidari, the Jeevan Bhima Nagar police registered a case under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code against the builder and the developer, who has mysteriously disappeared since mishap, said report.
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“The section clearly states the punishment for culpable homicide. Whoever commits culpable homicide not amounting to murder shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years. He shall also be liable to fine, if the act by which the death is caused is done with the intention of causing death, or of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death. The provision also states that the punishment will also include imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years, or with fine, or with both, if the act is done with or without the knowledge that it is likely to cause death or to cause such bodily injury which is likely to cause death,” he was quoted as saying.

Report said citing officials that police had identified the builder and the land owner.

“The land belonged to Anurag Jain. We tried to trace him, but his office on St Mark’s Road, as well as his residence was deserted. We suspect that Jain has applied for bankruptcy and went into hiding soon after the fire accident,” assistant commissioner of police (Ulsoor sub-division), GB Manjunath, was quoted as saying.

The probe revealed that Jain constructed Carlton Towers in a joint venture with a Chennai-based builder 15 years ago and as the building was completed, it was sold out to 94 companies and individuals as office spaces, said report.

“We are contemplating booking cases against the various companies that ran their offices from that building. We have found deviations in the building plan that were made after the builder sold the units to various investors,” another police officer was quoted as saying.

He said the police were on the look out for the builder and developer and it was still premature to talk about any other legal action against the two, said report.

“We are still studying the case and appropriate action will be taken,” he was quoted as saying.

Bidari also said that the case would be studied on the lines of Delhi’s Uphaar cinema tragedy in June 1997, which claimed 59 lives, report said.

“First we have to conduct the physical examination of the entire seven-storey building and get various reports like that of the forensic experts and electrical inspector to know the exact cause for the fire and resultant smoke. Only after that we will be deciding on the future course of action,” he was quoted as saying.