Bolangir: Gopal Shah, partner of the private firm, Kotia Projects, which had got the contract to operate and maintain a lakefront near Vadodara town where 12 school students and two teachers died in a boat capsize, has been apprehended from Titilagarh in this district, police said Wednesday. So far, seven of the 19 people named in the FIR are already behind bars. Kotia Projects had been entrusted with the responsibility of running and maintaining the Motnath Lake in the Harni area on the outskirts of Vadodara. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Manoj Ninama said Wednesday that the process to take back Shah to Vadodara has been initiated.
A joint team of Vadodara and local police arrested Shah from a house in which he was hiding. The tragedy which took place January 18 resulted in the death of 12 students and two teachers. Due to the efforts of the rescue teams, 18 students and two other teachers were safely brought back to the shore. The police have registered a case under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the IPC against 19 persons in connection with the boat tragedy.
As per the FIR, Kotia Projects was given a contract by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) to operate the Harni Lake Zone in 2017. In its complaint, the VMC had pointed out lapses, including non-maintenance of boats and not keeping an adequate number of life-saving equipment and life jackets, on the part of the contractor. It was also revealed that only a few students enjoying the ride on the boat were given life jackets on the day of the incident. Due to overloading, the boat first started swaying precariously and then capsized following water ingress from the front side, the FIR noted. Seven persons, including four partners of Kotia Projects – Bhimsingh Yadav, Vedprakash Yadav, Rashmikant Prajapati, and Bineet Kotia, manager of the firm Shantilal Solanki, and boat operators – Nayan Gohil and Ankit Vasava – are already in custody in connection with the case.
