Lothal death: No ASI permission was taken to conduct excavation in the restricted area around the archeological site, say Gujarat Police

The incident took place on November 27, 2024, when while conducting palaeoclimatology research, an excavation pit collapsed on both Dixit and Verma just outside the Lothal Harappan valley civilization site, in Ahmedabad district. Verma lost her life to asphyxiation while Dixit was hospitalised with head injuries during the mishap.

Police confirmed that neither any permission was taken from the ASI, under whose jurisdiction the restricted area falls, nor any safety equipment was used during the research expedition.

An FIR into the matter was filed on Sunday (March 23) at the Koth police station in Rural Ahmedabad based on a complaint filed by Surabhi’s father, 58-year-old Ram Khelawan Verma.

“We have filed the FIR based on the facts that neither any permission was sought from the ASI, under whose jurisdiction the restricted area falls, nor were any safety equipment used during the research expedition. Additionally, no other emergency authorities such as the police or fire brigade were informed about this excavation,” said PSI PN Gohil of Koth police station.

Notably, Surabhi’s father, who is a government teacher in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur, had over the last four months, given 4-5 applications to the police, asking them to “properly investigate” his daughter’s death.

The FIR states, on November 27, 2024, “Verma and Dixit, along with Professor VN Prabhakar and Shikha Rai of IIT Gandhinagar, had gone for research purposes. There, Yama Dixit chose an area next to the road passing next to the Lothal site. At the site, using a ‘Hitachi’, they dug a hole 13 feet in length, 4 feet in width, and 10 feet in depth.” The Hitachi mentioned here is an excavator machine that was actually being used for road constructions and was repurposed by the researchers to dig this impromptu pit for their research. While Verma was a PhD scholar, Dixit is an Assistant Professor, both at the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS) at IIT Delhi. The other two members of this team were Associate Professor VN Prabhakar and Shikha Rai, a Senior Research Fellow, both from the Archeological Sciences Centre at IIT Gandhinagar.

The FIR stated, “Yama Dixit and Surabhi Verma went into this pit to take samples. At this time, the wall of the pit collapsed on top of Surabhi, she was buried and died due to asphyxiation. The wall also fell on Yama Dixit, who suffered head injuries and was under treatment.”

The police booked Prof Dixit under BNS sections 106(1) (causing death by negligence) and 125(a) (act endangering life or personal safety of others). Local police officials said that Prof Dixit will be sent a notice to appear for questioning at Koth police station. The incident took place around 11 am on November 27 when the dig site of this team, who were collecting soil samples, suddenly collapsed and filled with water, killing Verma, stated the FIR. Verma’s post-mortem examination was conducted on November 27 and her last rites were conducted in her hometown in Uttar Pradesh on November 28.

‘No safety equipment used’

Meanwhile, PSI Gohil confirmed that “no safety equipment, even the most basic safety harness or helmets (hard hats) were found at the mishap site”.

However, the response of IIT-Delhi to the police question of whether or not they had any Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for safety during such research studies stated that the “institution empowers researchers to carry out their studies based on internationally accepted protocols”.

In a written reply to The Indian Express, the police stated, “IIT-Delhi authorities mentioned that their faculty members and researchers conduct research on various topics of their interest and expertise. The institution empowers researchers to carry out their studies based on internationally accepted protocols specific to each domain.”

PSI Gohil added that IIT-Delhi claimed to be in the process of formulating SOPs for future excavations and field research studies.

Notably, the accident spot is located just about 50 metres from the Lothal Harappan valley civilization site, and according to the ASI, an area up to the limit of 100 metres from the monument or site is a “prohibited area”, and an area up to the distance of 200 metres further beyond the prohibited limit is a “regulated area”.

When asked regarding the reply from the ASI on whether the excavation was within the restricted area and if yes, whether the researcher or her parent institute had sought permission to carry out an excavation, Gohil said, “The ASI Circle office in Vadodara confirmed that the collapsed excavation site was within the 300 metre restricted zone around Lothal. They also confirmed that no permission was sought from them for the excavation conducted on November 27, 2024.”

When The Indian Express visited the site on November 28, 2024, local residents and police confirmed that Verma’s death had been caused “by the collapse of the pit from behind the two women who were inside it, collecting soil samples, pushing them face first into the wall in front of them”. The eyewitnesses also shared that more than one side walls of the pit collapsed burying them while water filled it. On November 28 morning, half of the 12-feet pit was filled with water and the hole kept growing bigger with the soil around it continuously collapsing inside.

Notably, apart from a report submitted by the local mamlatdar to the Ahmedabad Collector, the police have sought opinion from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), the ASI, the Gujarat Engineering Research Institute (GERI), the Fire Department, the Revenue Department, as well as the Road and Building (R&B) Department. They also sought statements from IIT Delhi and IIT Gandhinagar. The police have so far recorded a total of seven statements while investigating the case as an Accidental Death (AD). These included remarks of Prof Dixit, Dr VN Prabhakar from IIT Gandhinagar, cab driver Dhaval Patel, excavator operator Masub Mansuri, road site supervisor Kantibhai, ASI representative Imran Mansuri and deceased’s father Ram Khelawan Verma.