A court in Prayagraj on Saturday granted bail to Manzoor Ahmad, son of former Samajwadi Party MLA Ansar Ahmad, in the cold storage facility collapse case in Prayagraj’s Phaphamau area on March 23 earlier this year. Ansar Ahmad is the owner of the cold storage where the incident occurred.
Sessions judge Satya Prakash Tripathi granted bail to Manzoor after hearing his counsel Mohammad Daud and Anzar Haroon and the counsel for the state. Earlier, Mohd Irfan, Mohd Jabir, Allauddin and Mohd Usman, staff of the cold storage, were also granted bail in the case.
The collapse, which killed four workers and injured around 14 others, occurred at the Adarsh Cold Storage. Following the incident, ammonia gas began leaking from the facility, prompting emergency response measures.
SSI Kambod Singh lodged an FIR claiming that the explosion of an ammonia gas chamber led to the incident. The FIR was registered against 12 individuals including seven named accused: the cold storage facility’s owner Ansar Ahmed, manager Usman, Manjur Alam (Ansar Ahmed’s son), Javed, Allauddin, Mohd Irfan and Mohd Aslam Baba, along with four to five unidentified people.
They were booked under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, including Section 103 (murder), along with Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1932, and other serious charges.
