Morbi: As many as nine people have been arrested in connection with the cable bridge collapse in Morbi that killed over 130 people on Sunday night.
The arrested persons are among the managers of Oreva, the company that renovated the bridge, ticket collectors, bridge repair contractors and three security guards whose job was to control the crowds.
Gujarat-based Oreva has been accused of violating multiple safety rules, leading to the huge tragedy just four days after the bridge reopened to the public. But none of its top bosses have been arrested. “We won’t let the guilty get away, we won’t spare anyone,” Rajkot range IG Ashok Yadav said.
Soon after signing a 15-year deal with the Morbi civic body, Oreva, a watchmaker, allegedly outsourced the “technical aspect of the bridge renovation” to a smaller company with an unknown record, Devprakash Solutions.
Oreva was hired for repair work on the historic colonial-era bridge in March. The bridge was reopened to the public seven months later, on October 26, when the Gujarati New Year was celebrated. The company was bound by its contract to keep the bridge shut for at least eight to 12 months for maintenance and repairs. It was a “seriously irresponsible and careless gesture” to open the bridge last week, the police said in an FIR that doesn’t name anyone.
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