A sessions court in Morbi on Wednesday sent Jaysukh Patel, the MD of Oreva Group, to judicial custody. The local police had produced Patel before the court after his seven-day police remand ended.
Patel was taken into custody after he surrendered himself before the sessions court on January 31, days after police filed the charge sheet and an arrest warrant was issued against him.
The chargesheet alleges that Patel breached the conditions of the contract for suspension bridge repair work in gross negligence and carelessness for "financial benefits". It also claimed that "to earn money, he increased the price of tickets from Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 15 to Rs 5, Rs 12 and Rs 17 by breaching the condition of contract."
The charge sheet named Patel as the main accused behind the incident. The 1,252-page charge sheet has testimonies of over 300 witnesses including family and survivors of the incident.
They have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 114 (abetment), among others. The charges include "gross negligence and carelessness" of the responsible agency, Oreva, which opened the bridge for the purpose of tourism despite "knowing that it could endanger common people."
On October 30, 135 people were killed after the British-era suspension bridge on Machhu river in Morbi town collapsed. Jaysukh Patel's clock-making firm Orega Group had the contract of running the bridge.
Published 08 February 2023, 11:39 IST