Morbi (Gujarat): Oreva Group Managing Director Jaysukh Patel was arrested on Tuesday evening, hours after he surrendered before Morbi court in the 2022 Morbi bridge collapse case and was sent to jail, police said. As many as 135 people were killed and scores others injured when a suspension bridge collapsed in Gujarat's Morbi town on October 30 last year.
Patel, whose company was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the ill-fated carriageway, surrendered before the Morbi-based court of chief judicial magistrate MJ Khan which had issued an arrest warrant against him. The court later sent the businessman to jail under judicial custody and he was subsequently arrested by the police. "We have arrested him after the court allowed his custody. We will seek his remand in due course," Morbi Superintendent of Police Rahul Tripathi said.
"Soon after his surrender, the investigating officer sought the custody of Jaysukh Patel, which was allowed by the court. The police will seek his remand within 24 hours," said Dilip Agechaniya, a lawyer representing families of the victims. The businessman was named the tenth accused in the case in a chargesheet filed by the police on January 27.
Ajanta Manufacturing Ltd (Oreva Group) was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river that collapsed, days after its repairs. Nearly 250 persons were on the more than a century-old hanging bridge, a popular tourist site, when it caved in.
As the Oreva Group Managing Director arrived in the court for surrender, angry kin of the victims who had gathered outside the court shouted slogans against him.
After his surrender, Patel was taken for a medical check-up. In the chargesheet running in more than 1,200 pages and filed in the court of chief judicial magistrate MJ Khan by Deputy Superintendent of Police P S Zala, Patel was shown as the tenth accused.
Earlier, fearing arrest in the case, Patel had moved an anticipatory bail plea in the court and it was due to come up for hearing on February 1.
On October 31, a day after the tragedy, the Morbi police had arrested nine persons in connection with the case, including two managers of the Oreva Group, two ticket booking clerks, two sub-contractors who repaired the bridge and three security guards deployed on the cable-stayed structure to guide and control the crowd.