CSMT bridge collapse: Retired BMC official arrested

Shitalaprasad Kori is the fourth person to be arrested in the case. He was produced in court on Tuesday and has been remanded in police custody till May 10.

A 58-year-old retired chief engineer with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was arrested late on Monday by the Azad Maidan police in connection with the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) bridge collapse case.

A 58-year-old retired chief engineer with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was arrested late on Monday by the Azad Maidan police in connection with the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) bridge collapse case.

Shitalaprasad Kori is the fourth person to be arrested in the case. He was produced in court on Tuesday and has been remanded in police custody till May 10.

Kori was produced in court on Tuesday. Public prosecutor Rajendra Suryanvashi told the court that Kori was the chief engineer responsible for bridges in Mumbai from April 2013 till his superannuation on July 31, 2018.

On March 14, the foot overbridge (FOB) near the CSMT collapsed, killing seven people and injuring 31 others.

“Most of the repair work and structural audit work was carried out during his tenure. However, the police found Kori had not visited the site even once nor did he supervise his juniors. Police said Kori did not follow the procedure prescribed by the BMC manual regarding inviting tenders and granting contracts. He was arrested on the charge of negligence in discharging his official duties.

Advocate Ashwin Thool, who represented Kori, however, maintained that his client was not at all at fault. He said that Kori retired in July 2018 and the bridge collapsed in March 2019, much after his retirement.

The Azad Maiden police had earlier arrested structural engineer Neeraj Desai, executive engineer Anil Patil and assistant engineer Sandeep Kakulte in connection with the incident.

Soon after the bridge collapse, BMC chief Ajoy Mehta had ordered an inquiry against five civic officials.