23 years later, man held for smuggling diamonds
MUMBAI: Seven people died and 18 others were injured on Thursday in three separate incidents of structure collapses in the city reported within 24 hours. The collapses took place while the city has been receiving heavy rainfall for the past three days.
In one of the incidents, five people were killed and three were injured after large portion of a ground-plus-six storey residential structure collapsed in Fort. Calling it one of the most risky operations by the fire brigade, officials said several people were feared to be trapped under the debris while some were stranded inside the building as the staircase was blocked.
The incident took place around 4.43pm when a large portion of Bhanushali building on Mint Road collapsed. Eight fire engines, two rescue vans and around 10 ambulances were pressed into service. The rescue operation was going at the time of going to press.
Sachidanand Gawde, spokesperson of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), said, “Five dead bodies have been recovered from the debris. One of the deceased is unidentified.”
The deceased have been identified as Jokhna Gupta, 70; Kusum Gupta, 45; Padumlal Gupta, 60; and Kiran Mishra (age unknown) while the identity of the other victim is yet to be ascertained.
Prabhat Rahangdale, chief fire officer of Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB), said, “People are trapped under the debris and some are stranded inside. Five people were rescued and sent to hospital, of whom two are dead. Search operation for trapped individuals is in progress.”
Civic official said the building was vacated by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) to carry out repair works, however, some residents were still residing in it in violation of the eviction notice. Municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal after reaching the spot told the media, “This is a Mhada cess building. There were 12 tenants who were vacated after the building was found to be dangerous, but around three of them had returned.”
In another incident, two people were killed and 13 were injured after a ground-plus-two storey chawl in Malwani, Malad collapsed around 2.35pm. Four fire engines and one rescue van was sent to the spot.
In all, 15 people were rescued and sent to a nearby hospital. The two deceased have been identified as Faizal Wahid Sayyad, 18, and Anjum Shahabuddin Shaikh, 23.
The third structure collapse was reported around 8.30pm wherein a part of ceiling of ground-plus-one storey Iqbal Manzil in Marol collapsed. Two people were injured while two senior citizens were stranded on the first floor.
Meanwhile, heavy showers in the city have led to waterlogging in several parts of the city. Waterlogging was reported in 15 different places in the city.
MUMBAI: Mumbai Police’s crime branch arrested Harish Kalyandas Bhavsar alias Harikrishna alias Paresh Zhaveri, 53, a resident of south Mumbai who had been absconding for 23 years.
A detention order was issued against him under Cofeposa (Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities) Act in 1997 after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) found him involved in smuggling diamonds.
According to police, Bhavsar used to import raw gold and diamond from Singapore but did not pay due taxes, following which ED started an inquiry and a detention order was served to the preventive branch of Mumbai Police to nab him. However, he changed his address and evaded arrest. Following input about his new address, he was nabbed on Wednesday.
A PART OF A GROUNDPLUS-SIX STOREY BUILDING COLLAPSED IN FORT KILLING 5 PEOPLE. TWO OTHERS WERE KILLED AS A GROUNDPLUS-TWO CHAWL COLLAPSED IN MALWANI