Ujjain hotel chamber deaths: 11 days on, police yet to fix responsibility for four deaths

Four men died while cleaning a chamber at Shri Ganga Hotel on Dewas Road in Ujjain. Eleven days have passed, but police have still not established who is responsible for the incident. A first information report (FIR) has been registered, but police have not yet reached those responsible.

According to police, four men went down to clean the overground chamber at Shri Ganga Hotel on Dewas Road at around 10:45 pm on November 1. One after another, all four got trapped in the chamber and died.

Among the dead, Manoj Meena (25) was a resident of Bud Mandawar village in Jhalawar district, Rajasthan. Kamlesh Tamboli (30) and Nitin Bilarwan (28) lived in Valmiki Nagar, Ujjain. The fourth victim, Waheed Khan (35), was from Susner in Agar-Malwa and was staying at Juna Somwariya.

After the incident, the management of SMB Hotel and Resort gave the families of the dead Rs 30 lakh each.

Two days after the incident, Madhav Nagar police station registered a case against the management of SMB Hotel and Resort under Section 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, on the basis of the statement of the injured Hemraj and the post-mortem report. It is a case of death caused by negligence. Police said eyewitness statements were also a basis for the case. Police had then said the name of the accused would emerge once the investigation was complete.

The FIR has been registered against the hotel management. Police have not named the hotel operator for now.

About seven days ago, police wrote to the hotel management seeking information on four points. The management has so far provided no information. Thus, 11 days after the incident, those responsible for the four deaths have still not been identified. Police hope the roles of those responsible will become clear once the information they have sought is received.