Main accused contractor arrested in Ghaziabad crematorium roof collapse; Total 4 held

Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday arrested the main accused in connection with Sunday's crematorium roof collapse incident in Ghaziabad's Muradnagar area in which 24 people were killed and left at least 17 injured.

Meanwhile, chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia for families of each of the deceased. He also said that the guilty would be punished under the stringent National Security Act (NSA).

Ghaziabad Police had announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for any information on Ajay Tyagi, the contractor of the crematorium who was arrested today. With Tyagi's arrest, the number of people held for the mishap has gone up to four. Three other accused in the incident, including a junior engineer, were arrested on Monday.

The roof at the crematorium had collapsed on Sunday while the last rites of one Jai Ram, who had died a day earlier were being conducted. Police and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) unit reached the spot and assisted in pulling out the dead and the injured from the debris.

Ghaziabad Police have registered a first information report (FIR) under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including sections 304, 337, 338.

On Monday, family members of victims took out a demonstration and blocked the Delhi-Meerut Highway NH-58 in protest demanding compensation. Administration deployed ambulance service to carry dead bodies.

"Administrators have assured us they will provide Rs 10 lakh compensation to each victim's family," a relative of the victim told today.

After the incident, Chief Minister Adityanath had sought a report on the incident from the Divisional Commissioner of Meerut and ADG Meerut Zone.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Paty (BJP) government in the state for the crematorium's roof collapse demanded a compensation of Rs 50 lakhs for the kin of the deceased.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati also demanded a proper investigation into the incident.

( With inputs from ANI )