VADODARA: Two more people, including the owner of the company sub-contracted to operate the boating facility at Harni Lake, were named in the
FIR
by the Vadodara police investigating the tragic capsize that killed 12 schoolchildren and two teachers on Jan 18.
Police, which have named 18 people till now, booked Nilesh Jain, owner of a sub-contracted firm, and
Paresh Shah
, whose family members are partners in
Kotia Projects
which was awarded the contract for the development and operation of the leisure facility at the lake in 2016
While Paresh himself had no formal connection with Kotia Projects, his wife Nutan, son
Vatsal
and daughter Vaishakhi were partners in the firm, said police. Kotia Projects gave the sub-contract to Dolphin Entertainment and Amusement Park Pvt Ltd to operate the boating facility at the lake. The names of Paresh Shah and Jain were being widely discussed ever since the tragedy, but records of the contract did not have their names. The questioning of the six accused arrested on Friday confirmed their involvement. Sources said that Paresh was spotted at the lake soon after the incident, but left later. He has gone underground after this. Paresh has also been seen with a senior functionary of the BJP city unit and his closeness to the leader has raised eyebrows.
Police commissioner
Anupam Singh Gahlaut
said that besides the statements of the accused, their phone records revealed their involvement. "Paresh and Jain used to take money collected for boating and oversee the operations. They were regularly in touch with those working at the pond," he said. The police are also looking into the details of the contracts and other papers to ascertain if Kotia Projects was allowed to rope in other operators to run the facilities. Investigators have obtained the relevant papers from the VMC even as the officials in the civic body have been asked to keep remaining documents in safe custody.
Cops have also issued a lookout circular to airports for the absconding accused to ensure that they don't flee.
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