Morbi bridge tragedy: Court sends 4 accused to judicial custody

Jaysukh Patel, the managing director of Oreva, inaugurated the bridge along with his family members on October 26, the occasion of the Gujarati new year and was reopened for the public after renovation

A magisterial court in Gujarat’s Morbi on Saturday refused to further grant police remand and ordered judicial custody to the four accused – two managers of the Oreva group and two officials of the Surendranagar-based contractors, who were sublet the work by the Oreva group.

At least 135 people were killed in Morbi bridge collapse on Oct 30 (HT Photo)

They were arrested in the ill-fated ‘Jhulto Pul’ tragedy on the Machchhu river that claimed as many as 135 lives on October 30. The court had on November 1 granted five days’ remand to the accused, which ended on Saturday.

The prosecution had demanded a further five days’ remand and said the police are yet to receive certain documents from the Rajkot Collector’s office concerning an agreement between the Oreva-Ajanta group and Morbi municipality in 2008. In that year, the bridge was under Rajkot’s jurisdiction.

The agreement was for handing over the operations and management of the suspension bridge to the private firm.

The bridge was closed for operational use about seven months ago. Oreva Group, a private company, was given the contract in March this year for the maintenance, operation and security of the bridge for the next 15 years.

The company had further given the sub-contract to Dhangadhra-based contractor Devprakash Solution for repair works of the 230m (754ft) bridge on the Machchhu river built during British rule in the 19th Century.

Jaysukh Patel, the managing director of Oreva, inaugurated the bridge along with his family members on October 26, the occasion of the Gujarati new year and was reopened for the public after renovation.

Patel also held a press conference claiming that the bridge was ready for visitors. Four days later, it collapsed claiming 135 lives.