NSA to be invoked against accused in Muradnagar roof collapse incident

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday directed charges under the National Security Act to be levied on those accused in the crematorium roof collapse incident in Muradnagar, which led to the deaths of 24 people.

The victims were attending a funeral when the roof of a shelter at the cremation ground in Muradnagar collapsed on Sunday, PTI reported.

“Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed that the National Security Act be slapped against the accused persons. He also directed that loss of public money during the construction work be recovered from the contractor and engineers,” a statement from the UP government said. 

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Adityanath also announced an ex-gratia sum of Rs 10 lakh for the kin of the deceased, and providing a home to affected homeless families. 

The contractor in connection with the incident was arrested from a village near the border of Meerut and Muzaffarnagar districts, police said on Tuesday. 

The contractor, Ajay Tyagi, went into hiding after the incident. He was nabbed by a joint-team of Muradnagar and Niwari police near the Ganga canal bridge of Sathedi village. 

On Monday, the Ghaziabad Police had arrested Muradnagar Nagar Palika executive officer Niharika Singh, junior engineer Chandra Pal and supervisor Ashish in connection with their involvement in the tendering process for building the structure. They were sent to judicial custody for 14 days.