Babusapalya Building Collapse: Bengaluru building tragedy: ‘Owner supervised construction over WhatsApp video calls’ | Bengaluru News

BENGALURU: The owner of the seven-storey under-construction building that collapsed Tuesday, claiming eight lives, was guiding and overseeing construction work by giving instructions to the head mason over WhatsApp video calls, Hennur police investigating the crash have learnt.
This unconventional method of communication between the owner, Muniraja Reddy, 52, a civil engineer himself, and head mason Murugesha has raised eyebrows among investigating officers. Cops are now looking into whether this remote supervision played a role in the building collapse.
D Devaraj, deputy commissioner of police (east), said, “Muniraja Reddy has been admitted to hospital over health complications. He is under supervision. Once he recovers, we will follow the arrest procedure.”
His son, Bhuvan Reddy, and mestri Murugesha were produced before a court and were remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
According to police sources, Muniraja chose the building material also by way of video calls. He hardly visited the construction site and designed the structure himself. He initially assigned the work to Murugesha, and after laying the foundation and building four floors, he allotted the work to another mestri, Elumalai, sources said.
A senior cop said, “We are listing the names of BBMP officials, including assistant executive engineer, executive engineer and others of the zone, who will be asked to appear before the investigating officer for interrogation, and necessary action will be taken accordingly.”
Rescue ops continue
The fire and emergency services Thursday continued the rescue operation along with civil defence personnel.
A senior officer told TOI, “Elumalai was suspected to be trapped under the rubble. But we have cleared most of the debris by Thursday evening and haven’t found him. We think Elumalai is injured but has managed to leave the construction site.”
Elumalai’s phone rang twice Wednesday night and the last tower location was near the building. The phone got switched off in the same location. “We suspect he dropped his phone while leaving the spot. Labourers who were working at the site say Elumalai was there when the accident occurred,” a senior police officer said. Fire and emergency officials also ruled out the rumours of four labourers, including Elumalai, being stuck under the rubble.