A Morbi district court on Tuesday sent four of the nine accused in the bridge collapse case to police custody for interrogation while remaining five were sent to jail in judicial custody. They had been arrested on Monday for the bridge collapse that killed 135 persons on Sunday evening in one of the biggest recent tragedies in the state.
During their remand hearing, police and public prosecutor revealed in the court that the two arrested contractors, who were hired for repair work of the ill-fated bridge by Oreva company, were allegedly not "qualified engineers."
It was argued that in the name of repair, only wooden flooring were replaced by aluminum sheets while the cables were not changed. It was said that the contractors didn't even oil or grease the cable despite the fact that the bridge was renovated last in 2007.
"It is suspected that the bridge snapped due to being overweight since wooden flooring was replaced by aluminium sheet," assistant public prosecutor H S Panchal argued in the court. Seeking remand for ten days of four accused including two managers of Oreva group and two contractors of the firm which undertook the repair work, Panchal told the court that only the flooring of the pedestrian bridge was altered (wooden to aluminum sheet) in the name of repair and maintenance work.
Investigating officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police, P A Zala, also told the court that "the two accused contractors were not qualified engineers." Besides, he said, there was no arrangement for no lifeguards in case of any mishap, which showed the gross negligence on the part of the Oreva company.
The accused persons couldn't hire local lawyers as Morbi Bar Association passed a resolution that no lawyer will be representing the suspects. Surendranagar-based advocate G K Raval appeared for two contractors-Prakash Parmar 61, and Devang Parmar, 31. They are said to be running the engineering firm which was hired by Jaysukh Patel, the owner of Oreva group.
Defence lawyer argued that both the suspects were involved in only welding and electrical work and had nothing to do with ascertaining the fitness of the bridge. Similarly, she also said that two other suspects- Dipak Parekh and Dinesh Dave- are not working in any capacity associated with repairwork. She said that they work with the clock-making company and have no knowledge of bridge engineering works.
During the course of the hearing, Dipak Parekh himself told the court that he was not involved in the bridge repair work and was managing media and graphic designing in the company. The defence argued that these suspects couldn't have known about the health of the bridge and can't be held accountable for the incident.
After hearing the argument, the court sent these four accused in police custody till November 5 while five other suspects including two ticket clerks and three security guards-Mansukh Topia, Mahadev Solanki, Alpesh Gohil, Dilip Gohil and Mukesh Chauhan- were sent to jail under judicial custody.
Oreva group is known for manufacturing wall clocks, which has also diversified in ebike making and other electronic gadgets making business. The Morbi municipality is said to have given the company a contract, allegedly without any tender, for repair, maintenance and management of the British-era bridge.
It was closed for visitors for nearly eight months and was opened on October 26 without obtaining a fitness certificate. Oreva group's owner Jaysukh Patel had held a press conference on that day when he said that he spent Rs2 crore for the repair work and claimed that the bridge was safe to use for the next 15 years. He had told reporters that instead of wooden planks, aluminum sheets had been added.
Patel had said that he hired an engineering firm based in Dhrangadhra (Surendranagar district) who did the repair work. He also told reporters that the firm was specialised in such engineering works.
When asked about the role of Jaysukh Patel and whether he has been questioned, Rajkot Range IG Ashok Yadav, who is supervising the investigation, told DH, "We are looking into all angles and since investigation is on, we can't rule out anything. If required, anyone can be summoned or arrested."