Jaysukh Patel, the managing director of clock-making firm Oreva Group, on Tuesday surrendered before the sessions court in Morbi. He was wanted in connection with the suspension bridge collapse in the town which killed 135 people on October 30. Soon after news of his surrender flashed, several people including victims' relatives gathered outside the court demanding maximum punishment.
Patel surrendered himself before the sessions court at around 3 pm. The court sent him to judicial custody since an arrest warrant was pending against him. Later in the day, the police took him into custody for questioning. He is likely to be produced before the court on Wednesday for further remand. Earlier this month, the police had approached the court to issue an arrest warrant against Patel for failing to appear before the police despite repeated summons.
The surrender of Patel came barely four days after Morbi police filed a chargesheet against him and nine others in this case. The charge sheet named Patel as the main accused behind the incident. Police said that the 1252-page chargesheet have testimonies of several victims' family and survivors, beside findings of the Special Investigation Team's reports. Police have cited 357 witnesses in the case.
They have been charged under various sections of Indian Penal Code including 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 114 (abetment), among others. The charges include "gross negligence and carelessness" of the responsible agency, Oreva, which opened the bridge for the purpose of tourism despite "knowing that it could endanger common people."
Apart from Patel, the other nine accused who have been chargesheeted and are behind the bars include Prakash Parmar 61, and Devang Parmar, 31, who are proprietors of Devprakash Solutions, the firm which carried out the repair work, Dipak Parekh and Dinesh Dave, the managers of Oreva Group and Mansukh Topia, Mahadev Solanki, Alpesh Gohil, Dilip Gohil and Mukesh Chauhan who worked at the bridge as ticket clerks and security guards.
Recently, Patel made a statement in the high court through his lawyer offering compensation to 135 victims who were killed in the bridge collapse. Oreva Group, part of famous clock-making firm Ajanta Manufacturing Limited, was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the British-era bridge at Machhu river. The high court agreed to hear his plea but said that such an offer would not "absolve him from any liability."