Muradnagar Nagar Palika Executive Officer Niharika Singh, Junior Engineer Chandra Pal, Supervisor Ashish and Contractor Ajay Tyagi were arrested on Monday morning in connection with the crematorium roof collapse case in Muradnagar area of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
They were booked under different Sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 304 for causing death by negligence, on Sunday evening, on the complaint of the son of a deceased person.
Tension spiralled in the area with the families of the victims blocking the Delhi-Meerut highway by placing two bodies on the road to press for their demand for higher compensation.
They lifted the blockade and agreed to cremate the bodies after hours of protest as officials agreed to provide ₹10 lakh compensation and a government job for each victim’s family, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Iraj Raja said.
Tyagi was given the contract to renovate the crematorium two months back for ₹55 lakh by the Muradnagar municipality. It was opened for the public nearly 15 days ago.
Police teams are conducting raids at the possible hideouts of contractor Tyagi to arrest him, Mr. Raja said.
Twenty-five people died and at least 15 were injured when the roof of a gallery at the crematorium collapsed on Sunday.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked for a report on the incident.
The road blockade near the Muradnagar Police Station led to a massive traffic jam with hundreds of vehicles getting piled up during the morning rush hour.
Protesters insisted that District Magistrate (DM) Ajay Shankar Pandey be called for a talk with them so that they could register their demands. The DM, Senior Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani and other senior officials later reached the protest site and spoke to them over their demands, officials said.
The CM had on Sunday announced ₹2 lakh as financial relief for the families of each person killed. Officials also said the government had agreed to provide relief to the injured after assessing their level of handicap.
( Inputs from PTI )
