Vadodara boat capsize: 2 more booked; boat operator appointed non-swimmers as helpers, say police

Vadodara city Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gahlaut said the SIT has begun the process to appoint a special public prosecutor for “safe keeping” the documentary evidence that the team has been collecting.

He added that during primary interrogation of the six accused arrested so far, it has come to light that two persons – Paresh Shah and Nilesh Jain – administered the activities at the Lake Zone on a day-to-day basis though their names did not feature on the list of directors of Kotia Projects, which had been awarded the contract by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) to renovate and operate Lake Zone.

The police said that Jain ran a company named Dolphin Entertainment and Amusement Park and had been appointed by Kotia Projects to operate the boating service at Lake Zone.

The police had on Friday arrested six persons, including three partners of Kotia Projects – Bhimsinh Yadav, Vedprakash Yadav and Rashmikant Prajapati. The others who were arrested on Friday were Lake Zone manager Shantilal Solanki and the two men who were operating the boat that capsized — Nayan Gohil and Ankit Vasava.

Speaking to mediapersons, Gahlaut said, “The questioning of the six accused has revealed that Shantilal Solanki was reporting to Paresh Shah… while he is not a director in Kotia Projects, his wife and two children are. It has been established that Nilesh Jain, who ran Dolphin Entertainment, operated the boats.”

“The boatman appointed to operate the boat only knew how to swim and had no other qualification to run the service while the helper on the boat did not even know swimming. We have booked Paresh Shah and Nilesh Jain,” Gahlaut said.

With two more accused added to the FIR, the total number of people booked in the case now stands at 20. However, one of the accused directors, Hitesh Kotia, is dead, the police had learnt on Friday. Vadodara SIT has also stated that Bhimsinh Yadav was earlier arrested in two separate cases of fraud in 2006 in Gorwa police station in Vadodara city and Jhagadia police station in Bharuch distirct while Vedprakash Yadav had been arrested in 2015 in a case of violation of prohibitory orders

Gahlaut further said that forensic experts have gathered evidence from the Lake Zone, which has now been sealed by the VMC. He said, “We have seized life jackets to examine how old they are and how much weight they could carry. We are looking into the main contract between the VMC and Kotia Projects. We have also issued a look out circular for all the accused, who are yet to be arrested.”

A local court in Vadodara remanded the six arrested accused–three partners of M/s Kotia Projects Bhimsinh Yadav, Vedprakash Yadav and Rashmikant Prajapati as well as Lake Zone manager Shantilal Solanki and boat operator Nayan Gohil and helper Ankit Vasava– to five days in police custody until 3pm on January 25.

The police, which had sought a remand of ten days, told the court in its 16-point remand application that the incident was that of “gross negligence” on part of the management of the Lake Zone and a detailed investigation into the boating facility was needed to ascertain facts.

Stating that the custody of the accused was needed for completing the chain of investigation, the police said in its remand application that it was imperative to probe the measures taken by the contractor for following the contract it had signed with the VMC, especially in the aspect of safety and maintenance of the facility. The application states that the contractor has shown negligence that has amounted to a criminal act. The remand application also states that despite charging ticket fare for boating for all students the boat operator overcrowded the boat and did not provide life jackets to everyone. The police have stated that it is also a matter of investigation to ascertain if the accused had followed the guidelines of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for water sport activities and if any SOPs were explained to the students. The remand application also highlights that despite knowing that children from a school were to visit, the management had made no arrangements for lifeguards. Primary probe has also revealed that there was no follow up to boat inspections and technical examination of the boats, police have said.

District Government Pleader Anil Desai, who represented the police said, “The tragic accident that led to the death of 14 persons, including innocent children and two teachers is indeed an act of negligence of the accused. Therefore, the police had sought a remand of ten days to probe the case. The main grounds for the remand are that an investigation is needed into the incident to ascertain who all are involved in running this Lake Zone, what were the instructions and standard operating procedures were followed in running of boats, where were the boats procured from, the eligibility of the contractors in running such a facility and the sequence of events on the fateful day… At least 13 other accused in the case are yet to be arrested and the court has considered the police application.”