Goa building collapse: Deputy Collector arrested

Panaji: A Deputy Collector has been arrested in connection with the Canacona building collapse in Goa which left 27 people dead, police said today. Prashant Shirodkar, Deputy Collector of the area, who was also holding charge of Chief officer of Canacona Municipal Council, was arrested yesterday. Police inspector Harish Madkaikar said that Shirodkar had signed the Occupancy Certificate for the under-construction five-storey building which collapsed on 4 January. The OC was issued on 26 December, days before it came down crashing. [caption id=“attachment_1338575” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  At least 27 people were killed in the collapse. PTI[/caption]Shirodkar has been booked under the Anti-Corruption Act. 27 bodies were extricated during the ten-day long rescue operation which continued even till yesterday. The state government is yet to officially announce the overall death toll in the collapse. This is a second arrest in the collapse case. Earlier Deputy Town Planner Prakash Bandodkar was arrested for allegedly not following the procedures while giving licence to the building. Police said that Shirodkar’s arrest was delayed because he was the part of disaster management team and was posted on the site of the collapse where bodies were retrieved. However, Municipal Engineer Ajay Desai and three directors of a property firm (Bharat Realtors and Developers), constructing the structure, are still untraceable. PTI