PUNE: The four-member committee constituted by Central Railway to look into the hoarding mishap on Sunday questioned officials with the Commercial Department of Pune Division to see if rules were followed during the allotment of the hoarding contracts and whether adequate safety measures were taken while installing the same.
According to sources from the division, the officials started the inquiry on Saturday morning. On Saturday, they visited the spot where the incident happened. The inspected the area and talked to the staffers of the division. The probe continued on Sunday and they started questioning officials of the Commercial Department especially those who were directly involved in allotment and tender process. The officials started their questioning early morning on Sunday.
“Actually, we can’t reveal what questions have been asked and what answers have been given. We can only say that the investigation is on the right path and those who are involved in the issue will be punished. A few people have been questioned and they might be called again for questioning, if the officials found discrepancies or are unsatisfied with their answers,” said a source from the Pune division.
The investigating officials started their probe by searching documents and scanning the computers. The committee members started the questioning at 11 am on Sunday morning. However, the source has not revealed how many officials have questioned the people. The members spent 30 to 35 minutes questioning each official.
The high-level inquiry committee members include AK Singh, Deputy Chief Engineer (Bridge), Shiv Kumar, Deputy Chief Safety Officer (Engineering), KV Thomas, Deputy Chief Commercial Manager/ Claims (all are from Mumbai Zonal Office) and D Vikas, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner from Pune. They have been instructed to submit the report within 15 days.
Four persons were killed while ten others were injured after a massive hoarding fell on around 14 people, who were waiting at the traffic signal at Shahir Amar Shaikh chowk, popularly known as Juna Bazaar, on Friday at around 2 pm.
