Contractor Charged with Culpable Homicide for Substandard Work on Mumbai-Goa Highway

A contractor and several company officials have been charged with culpable homicide for alleged substandard work on a highway stretch in Maharashtra's Raigad district. Police have arrested the project coordinator. The substandard work has resulted in 97 deaths and 208 injuries over 170 accidents since 2020.

Authorities in Maharashtra's Raigad district have registered a case of 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder' against a contractor for allegedly substandard work on a 26.7-kilometre stretch between Indapur and Wadpale on the Mumbai-Goa national highway. The police have also detained a project coordinator.

The case has been filed against Hukamichand Jain, Managing Director of Chetak Enterprises Limited, Awadhesh Kumar Singh, the General Manager, and Sujit Kawale, the Project Coordinator Engineer, among others, according to official reports.

Superintendent of Police Somnath Gharge stated that project coordinator Kawale has been arrested. The faulty construction has been linked to 97 fatalities and 208 injuries from 170 accidents on this section of the highway since 2020.

(With inputs from agencies.)