Manager arrested; technical probe to reveal reasons

CHENNAI: The accident at Sekhmet, the posh club near the proposed Boat Club Metro Station that snuffed the lives of 3 of its staffers on Thursday after a concrete roof collapsed, warrants a technical probe about the collapse, but it remains to be seen whether the investigation will run its course.

The Abiramapuram police who had registered a case under Section 304 A (causing death by negligence) detained 12 persons associated with the club, and later, arrested the manager (administration), S Sathish.

While the CMRL has officially denied that their operations a few metres away triggered the collapse, staff at Sekhmet said that they have experienced vibrations in the building in the recent past and one of the reasons was ‘loud music’.

In the FIR, a staff at Sekhmet had stated, “Earlier too, during Saturdays and Sundays, whenever there is a party, the building would shake a little due to the loud music. We informed the owners,

Ashok Kumar and Sathish, about it but they did not pay any attention on it.”

The complainant sought justice for the death of his co-workers, R Cyclone Raj (45), Hausawmilan alias Max (20) and Chindimnieng alias Lally (23) and urged the police to take necessary action against the management.

A police officer said that the Chennai police will be seeking expert opinion from the State Public Works Department (PWD) and other departments, and that the team will be monitored by an officer in the assistant commissioner level.

DT Next visited Chamiers Road where the club is located and asked dwellers in adjacent buildings if they had experienced any vibrations due to CMRL works and the answers were in negative. “All the buildings, including the Sekhmet Club, are fitted with a tiltmeter (used to measure changes in vertical level in structures), which is checked periodically,” said a CMRL official.