Mumbai: Police, probing last month’s fatal Metro Line 4 concrete parapet collapse in Mulund, have arrested welder Ram Ashish from a village in Uttar Pradesh, taking the total number of arrests in the case to six. Project consultant Sai Suresh is still at large. Ram Ashish was produced before a local court, which remanded him to police custody.On February 14, a 6ft×4 ft concrete parapet segment of the underconstruction elevated Metro Line 4 (Wadala–Kasarvadavali) viaduct fell on an autorickshaw and a car passing below on LBS Road in Mulund West, killing a 50-year-old man and injuring three others. Police said it was Ram Ashish’s responsibility to carry out welding, but he allegedly cut the two interlocks between the parapets and left it loose, causing it to fall. Soon after the incident, police arrested project director Harish Chauhan, project manager Kuldeep Sapkal, deputy manager Saurab Singh, and supervisor Prashant Bhoir from RAJV-Milan Infra, and project manager Avdhoot Inamdar from DB-Hill-LBG consortium in the case.In a related development, Bombay high court on Wednesday called for a status report on the Metro 4 slab collapse incident within two weeks. A division bench, headed by Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ruju Thakkar, which sought a third-party safety audit of all Metro lines.The PIL said residents were worried about using LBS Marg where the accident occurred. The HC questioned the lawyer’s locus but said the status report would allay fears and bring out what the PIL seeks. The PIL also sought a detailed report from authorities to explain the cause of the February 14 accident and raised questions over accountability of the contractor and public authorities executing the project and several other Metro rail projects. It also wanted HC to pass orders and seek explanations from public bodies for why no action had been initiated against the contractor in the Mulund incident.
