Delhi building collapse: Owner claims innocence
By IANSWednesday, November 17, 2010
NEW DELHI - Amrit Pal Singh, owner of the collapsed building in east Delhi, Wednesday said he had followed all rules in its construction, and did not bribe ministers and officials.
I have not bribed anyone. I told all ministers personally about the details of the building. The reports of me bribing officials to get a no objection certificate are completely false,” he said.
Singh was presented before the Karkardooma court in the capital, and was sent to two days’ police custody.
Said to be involved in criminal cases earlier, he is charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code.
The building, in which poor migrant families from Bihar and West Bengal lived, was located in congested Lalita Park locality near the Yamuna river in east Delhi. It collapsed around 8.15 p.m. Monday.
The accident killed 67 people, and left 82 injured. Around 20 are still feared buried under the rubble, but rescue work has been hampered by Wednesday’s rains, a official of the Delhi Fire Service said.
