Building collapse case: Witness blames civic officials Thane

A witness in the 2013 Lucky Compound building collapse case has blamed officials for not taking any action in his deposition before the district court. Auto-rickshaw driver Rajkumar Fattebahadur Singh (42), recently told the court that he got to know the two accused, developers Jamil and Salim, five or six years before the incident. His friend and his wife were among the 74 people who died in the building collapse in April 2013. More than 60 people were also injured. Twenty-seven of the accused are being tried in the court of District Judge Vilas Bambarde. Salim and Jamil, known only by their first name, initially constructed and sold tin sheds on the open plot, but later bought them back to construct buildings. They named the building complex Lucky Compound. They first built the 'Adarsh-1 building and then, in January 2013, started laying columns for the 'Adarsh B' building. These were razed by civic officials, Singh told the court. But construction went ahead and families were shifted to the under-constriction Adarsh B building. The construction continued and inferior qualitymaterial was used. Civic officials came to the site, sat with the developers but did not take any action, he said.