Secunderabad: 1 killed as building being demolished crashes

HYDERABAD: One person was killed after a portion of a building being demolished sans permission illegally at night collapsed on Rajiv Rahadari at Karkhana in Secunderabad around 11.45pm on Sunday. The demolition had been going on for over a month and had it crashed during day on the busy stretch many would have been crushed as there’s even a bus stop right in front of the building.
The victim is yet to be identified but cops suspect he was one of the workers hired for demolition. A car was also damaged when iron beams fell on it, but the driver escaped unhurt.
Officials said the owner was bulldozing the structure without any protective covering resulting in huge chunks of concrete falling on the road.
Police said the four-storied building was owned by Durga Prasad, a realtor, who had flouted the Cantonment Act that requires one to take permission from the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) before demolishing a property. SCB authorities said Prasad had rented it to M/s Satyam Computer Services (firm of former CEO Byrraju Ramalinga Raju) five years ago, and after the company vacated it, a private bank used for some months before vacating it. The building has been vacant for the past five years.
“The owner of the building gave the work to a private contractor for demolishing the building and raising a new structure,” said Karkhana inspector P Madhukar Swamy. Police have registered a case under IPC Section 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against Prasad, contractor Rajeshwar Reddy and a supervisor.
Apart from SCB, the GHMC’s directorate of enforcement, vigilance and disaster management rushed to the spot to clear the debris blocking the road.