JOIN USFour directors of private firm arrested for poor construction of flyover in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad Police Monday arrested four directors of the construction firm Ajay Engineering Infrastructure Private Limited (AEIPL) after they surrendered late on Sunday night after their anticipatory bail applications were rejected right from the sessions court to the Supreme Court.
Police said that arrested officials of AEIPL, include its chairman Ramesh Patel, 69; his sons Kalpesh, 43; and Chirag, 46; as well as another director, Rasik Patel, 61.
They are facing charges for criminal breach of trust, and cheating along with criminal conspiracy.
They are accused of using inferior quality materials in construction of a flyover in Hatkeshwar in Khokhara police station area.
The flyover built about five years ago is reported to have become hazardous for the public and is likely to be demolished.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) had filed the complaint against the firm claiming that the flyover was opened for public use in 2017 and in four to five years it was closed because of damages.
During hearing on anticipatory bail, the civic body submitted in Gujarat High Court that before lodging a complaint, a "detailed audit" of the flyover was conducted by several independent agencies whose reports indicated that "the concrete quality used for the construction of the flyover was found to be doubtful."
"It was also discovered that the quality of cement paste is weak and the reason appears to be the use of much higher water content than acceptable in M45 grade concrete. It has also come on record that no load test was carried out by the contractor before putting the flyover into the operation. The record also shows that no record of concrete cube test at batching plant or at pouring point is available," the AMC had submitted in the court.