Court rejects bail plea of contractor, XEN

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 6

A local court today rejected the bail plea of contractor Akshay Doegar and Executive Engineer Vinod Thakur. Junior engineers RL Gautam and SDO Abhishek Sharma, arrested yesterday by the special investigation team (SIT), were sent to a one-day police remand.

The SDO and the junior engineers would be produced in the court tomorrow, SP DW Negi said.

The contractor was arrested on January 29 while executive engineer was arrested on January 30.

Both of them complained of chest pain and were admitted to Indira Gandhi Medical College. Later, the duo were sent to 14-day judicial custody.

SIT, constituted on January 17 following a complaint by Deputy Mayor Tikender Panwar, has arrested seven persons. The team has also questioned the chief engineer and the superintending engineer of the IPH Department and the Shimla Municipal Corporation. It has also sent a questionnaire to the member secretary, Pollution Control Board.

Negi said the team was investigating the role of various departments to ascertain if negligence had led to the jaundice outbreak.

Sixteen more cases of jaundice were reported today, taking the total number to 1,308 in Shimla. State programme officer Rakesh Bhardwaj said the death of 50-year-old patient at the IGMC was not due to jaundice.