Overview
- The four-storey Agrawal Lodge near Kotma bus stand, which collapsed Saturday evening, has left three dead as NDRF and SDRF teams continue searches for anyone still under the debris.
- Authorities named the victims as Hanuman Deen Yadav, Ramkripal Yadav and Radha Kaul, and said several injured survivors were referred to Shahdol for higher-level treatment.
- Early findings point to a nearly 12-foot-deep water-filled pit dug on the next plot that likely weakened the decade-old lodge’s base during ongoing renovation work.
- Police filed cases of causing death by negligence under the new penal code against lodge owner Lallu Agrawal and adjacent plot owner Rajiv Garg as a senior state team opened a formal inquiry.
- Chief Minister Mohan Yadav announced Rs 9 lakh for each bereaved family and Rs 2.5 lakh for each injured person while rescue operations and the cause probe proceed.