Alleging that the lack of safety checks and irresponsibility on the part of the contractor killed 27-year-old security guard Gautam Biswal on Sunday afternoon, the students’ union of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on Monday demanded that the institute’s director apprise them about the preventive measures in place to ensure such incidents do not happen again. Students submitted a memorandum to IISc director Professor Anurag Kumar.
Biswal, who hailed from Odisha, has been working as a security guard at the institute for the past three years. He was killed when the newly installed iron gate, weighing almost a tonne, at the main entrance of the institute facing CV Raman Road, collapsed on him as he was closing it. The gate collapsed on him and his colleague, Anil Kumar. Biswal died on the spot after the gate crushed his head, while Kumar sustained severe leg injuries and is being treated at MS Ramaiah Hospital.
The newly installed gate does not have a locking system, which keeps the gate in place when fully shut, due to which the gate came loose from its grooves and collapsed on the hapless duo. The incident sparked tension on campus when other security guards staged a protest over their colleague’s death due to negligence on the part of the contractor and they also stopped the ambulance in which Biswal’s body was being shifted to MS Ramaiah Hospital for the postmortem.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, general secretary of IISc students’ council Veerendra Singh Rajawat said, “Prof Anurag Kumar assured the students that necessary action would be taken. The institute would also compensate Biswal’s family. Students pointed out flaws in construction of the gate and if the contractor had been more responsible, an innocent life would not have been lost.
A committee constituted by the director is in the process of addressing the issues, and students were assured that they would be updated of any progress made.”The postmortem was conducted at MS Ramaiah hospital on Monday and his family members took his body to Odisha to perform the last rites. Meanwhile, Sadashivanagar police, who are investigating the case, arrested the contractor and fabricator J D Nagaraj (64), a resident of Vyalikaval on Monday. Ajay Sharma, a project engineer, has been also been booked on charges of negligence causing death.
