Morbi In a major turn in the Morbi bridge collapse case in Gujarat, the Additional Public Prosecutor of the case made a huge revelation, saying that one of the accused managers of the Oreva company cited “ Act of God” in the court as a reason for the tragic mishap.
“One of the two managers of Oreva company (that have been arrested) told the court that it is an ‘Act of God’,” said Additional Public Prosecutor, Advocate HS Panchal. Another major revelation came up to the fore that the cable wires of the bridge were not in the ideal condition to be opened for the general masses and were “rusting away”.
“In the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report, the Investigating Officer (IO) said that the cable (of bridge) was rusting away. The Investigating Officer says that only flooring of the bridge was done and the cables were not changed, oiling-greasing also wasn’t done,” Advocate HS Panchal said. Adding that Prima facie, FSL officer says that it was an old cable.
Asked about details of the accused sent to police custody today, Panchal said, “Out of the 4 people who were sent to Police custody, two are managers at Oreva Co and two others did fabrication work for the bridge. The five others who were sent to judicial custody are security personnel and ticket vendors.”
“In the report, the Investigating Officer (IO) stated that the tender process did not take place and contract was directly allotted,” Advocate Panchal further said.
Out of nine persons arrested pertaining to the 30 October collapse of the century-old suspension bridge, killing 135 people, Gujarat’s Morbi Court on Wednesday has sent four people to police custody and the remaining five into judicial custody till 5 November.
Of the four persons in police custody, two are managers of the Oreva company, which threw the bridge open for visitors after seven months of maintenance works, and the other two are fabrication work contractor’s people.