KOCHI: Serious safety lapses led to the accident that caused grievous injuries to Thrikkakara MLA Uma Thomas while attending a mega dance event at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi, said police.
The Palarivattom police on Monday registered a case against the event organisers and contractor who built the dais at the stadium gallery.
After interrogation, the police recorded the arrest of Krishnakumar, manager of event management firm Oscar Events. He was later released on bail. The Thrissur-based firm had organised the event for Mridanga Vision on Sunday.
Uma suffered serious injuries after she fell from a height of 15ft at the stadium. Kochi City Police Commissioner Putta Vimaladitya said the preliminary probe indicated lapses on the part of organisers.
“The probe revealed that certain terms and conditions stated in the agreement made between Mridangavision and the GCDA for hiring the stadium were not followed. We are in touch with other departments to check whether the organisers had taken their permission. We are conducting a detailed probe by coordinating with other government departments. The forensic team and structural engineers of PWD checked the stadium. All aspects of the safety lapses will be checked,” Vimaladitya told reporters on Monday.
Krishnakumar was the signatory on the agreement between Mridangavision and GCDA. Mridanga Vision managing director is Nighosh Kumar.
The police interrogated Krishnakumar, Mridanga Vision CEO Shameer Abdul Rasheem and Mulanthuruthy native Benny, who built the stage.
“We have registered a case against the organisers and the contractor who built the stage. Currently, bailable offences are charged against the accused persons. Once more evidence emerges during the course of probe, we will decide on slapping more charges against them,” Vimaladitya said.
Police sources said the organisers had not taken permission from GCDA to install a dais on the gallery. Even after the accident, the event continued without enough security measures, they said.
‘Stage wasn’t barricaded to prevent accident’
“Usually when such an event attended by a large crowd is organised, the PWD examines the structural changes made by organisers. However, PWD or engineers of GCDA were not informed about setting up the stage. The dais erected at a height of 15ft hardly had enough space to seat eight persons. The dais was to be occupied by more than 10 persons. The stage was not barricaded to prevent the accident that happened to Uma Thomas,” an officer conducting the investigation said.
The case was registered under Section 125 of the BNS Act (acts done rashly or negligently that endanger human life or personal safety), Section 125(B) (same offence with imprisonment up to three months), Section 3(5) (several persons involved in an offence), and Section 118(E) of the Kerala Police Act (the penalty for causing a grievous violation of public order or danger).
According to Vimaladitya, the organisers had informed the police about the event.
“As it was a private event, we deployed 43 police personnel for crowd management. We also installed barricades at the stadium. Arrangements for parking of vehicles were checked. Also, around 150 volunteers were present at the stadium. We were told that a unit of the fire and rescue service department was present at the venue,” he said.
Meanwhile, the managing director of Oscar Events filed anticipatory bail petition in the Kerala High Court on Monday. In the petition, Jinesh, a native of Thrissur, claimed there has been no security lapse at the venue of the event.
“All authorities concerned were informed and their permissions were taken to conduct the dance event attended by 15,000 people," the plea stated.
However, police stated that they are unaware about the petition filed by Jinesh. In fact, police are yet to charge non-bailable offences against the organisers.
