Boy who fell on iron rod in nullah, dies; cops arrest contractor

A 15yearold boy who was on ventilator support since March 5 at KEM hospital after he allegedly lost control over his bicycle and fell on an iron rod that went straight into his left eye was declared dead around 330 pm on Wednesday midday had on March 9 reported about the accident that had horribly injured Vivek Ghadassi after alleged negligence on the part of the civic contractor Soon after the report was published both the Ghatkopar police andBMCs N ward staff started an inquiry in the caseViveks father Anand Ghadassi 53 a painter who earns R600 a day had blamed the civic contractor for not having put up barricades before beginning construction on the nullah where he met with the accidentThe Ghatkopar police recorded the statement of Viveks uncle Vinay Ghadassi and prima facie found the contractor to be negligentThe underconstruction nullah where the accident took placeThey had registered an FIR against the contractor under section 338 Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others of the Indian Penal Code on March 9 and arrested him He was released after being produced before a court Now additional charges will be levelled against the contractorVivek had given the first paper in the SSC examination on March 4 Marathi language On March 5 he was returning from school when the accident took place at a nullah construction site near his houseContractor is responsibleHis heartbroken uncle Vinay Ghadassi 43 whose statement has been recorded by the police said Vivek never came out of the comatose state his condition only worsened with every passing day The KEM doctors did everything possible to keep him alive but they could not even operate on him as his parameters were not supportingHe added We were hopeful when he moved his hands and limbs at one time and prayed for a miracle to get him back The iron rod not only pierced and damaged his left eye but also impacted his brain badlyHe added further I have told the police that there were no barricades at the construction site and that the contractor was responsible for the incident We are waiting for the police to complete the panchnama and then we will get the body sent for postmortem The parents are heartbroken and are awaiting justiceA senior KEM hospital doctor said Vivek breathed his last at 330 pm on Wednesday and as it is a medico legal case they will send the body for postmortem to ascertain the exact cause of deathMore charges against accusedThe Ghatkopar police had arrested the civic contractor who was later released by the court We had carried out the preliminary investigation and recorded the statements of concerned people and locals CCTV camera footage of the area was examined accordingly we arrested the contractor who was identified as Ketan Trivedi a resident of Borivli He was arrested under Section 338 Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others of IPC on Saturday We will now add additional charges against the accused said SubInspector Anil Bangar the investigating police officer from Ghatkopar police stationAssistant Commissioner of Police Ghatkopar division Kundalik Nigade said We have to consult the public prosecutor to decide on the charges that can be levelled against the contractor post the demise of the victim We have also asked for certain papersfiles from BMCs N ward pertaining to the contract allocated and to whom We will probe the case from all anglesACP Nigade claimed locals had told them that Viveks bicycle did not have brakes The police have seized it and will check this We are also studying the CCTV grabs to find how the accident happened ACP Nigade saidBMC speakAjitkumar Ambi assistant commissioner N ward BMC said I visited the location and even directed my officers to carry out a proper inquiry into the incident The problem is with the topography of the location where the accident happened It is connected to roads from two to three different directions Also due to congestion people complain that barricades when put up are moved away as it causes inconvenience to pedestriansAmbi added To avoid such incidents in future I have directed staff in N and S wards to be more cautious in places where we have a similar topography issue Also the local police and traffic police should be roped in for traffic and pedestrian movement in such places When asked if the construction of the nullah was still in progress Ambi said The work was on the verge of completion when the incident happened I presume it might be completed now The road used to get flooded with drainage water and therefore a concrete nullah was constructed to prevent public inconvenienceCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates