Mumbai: Four men from Elphinstone Road, central Mumbai, have been arrested for opening the manhole, or drain cover, without authorisation that led to the death of noted gastroenterologist Dr Deepak Amarapurkar. He had fallen into the drain on August 29 when the metropolis was hit by torrential rains and flooding, and his body was found near Worli seaface two days later.
Dr Amarapurkar went missing after he decided to walk home since his car was stuck in a traffic jam. Some eye witnesses said they had seen a man falling into the manhole as he waded through the flooded area on Elphinstone Road.
On Saturday evening, Dadar police in central Mumbai booked Siddesh Bhalekar, 25, Rakesh Kadam, 38, his younger brother, Nilesh, and Dinar Pawar, 36 who lived nearby, who had opened the manhole to let the rain water flow into the drain as their homes were getting flooded. They have been charged with section 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal code. Investigations are still under way. All the four men have been sent to judicial custody until September 22.
The incident sparked outrage and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had to face widespread anger from the citizens, eminent personalities as well as the medical community.
However, the BMC conducted an inquiry and said that none of its staff had opened the manhole and that whenever they did, the civic men put up a red flag or a signal as a warning to people not to go near the drain. Police investigating the case studied CCTV footage in the area and said that local residents had opened the manhole, and arrested the four men.
The men told the police that they removed the drain cover hoping that the water flooding their homes would be flushed out.
Following the incident, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the municipal commissioner and Mumbai mayor blaming the BMC for leaving the manhole open without warning. The Prime Minister’s Office responded promptly and wrote to state Chief Secretary Sumit Mallick asking the state government to come up with a report on the death of the doctor and also upload it.
