Morbi bridge collapse case: Jaysukh Patel surrenders before Gujarat court

Managing Director of Oreva Group Jaysukh Patel an accused in the last years Morbi suspension bridge collapse case who is facing culpable homicide not amounting to murder charges on Tuesday surrendered before a court here in Gujarat and was subsequently sent to jailAs many as 135 people were killed and scores others injured when a suspension bridge collapsed in Gujarats Morbi town on October 30 last yearPatel whose company was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the carriageway surrendered before the Morbibased court of chief judicial magistrate which had issued an arrest warrant against him The court accepted his application for surrender and sent him to jail under judicial custodyThe businessman was named as the tenth accused in the case in a chargesheet filed by the police on January 27Ajanta Manufacturing Ltd Oreva Group was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Britishera suspension bridge on the Machchhu river that collapsed days after its repairs Nearly 250 persons were on the more than a centuryold hanging bridge a popular tourist site when it caved inJaysukh Patel surrendered before the court of chief judicial magistrate MJ Khan which had issued an arrest warrant against him under section 70 of the CrPC The court accepted his application and sent him to judicial custody The police will approach the court and seek his custody said Dilip Agechaniya a lawyer representing families of the victimsThe CrPC Code of Criminal Procedure section 70 deals with warrant of arrestAs 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 himAfter his surrender Patel was taken for a medical checkupJaysukh Patel surrendered in the court today He was sent to judicial custody We will soon initiate the process of seeking his custody from the court said Morbi Superintendent of Police Rahul TripathiIn the chargesheet running in more than 1200 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 accusedEarlier 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 1Also Read Air India PeeGate Shankar Mishra granted bail by sessions courtOn 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 subcontractors who repaired the bridge and three security guards deployed on the cablestayed structure to guide and control the crowdTwo weeks ago the same court issued an arrest warrant against PatelAll the ten accused including Patel have been charged under Indian Penal Code IPC sections 304 culpable homicide not amounting to murder 308 attempt to commit culpable homicide 336 act which endangers human life 337 causing hurt to any person by doing any rash or negligent act and under 338 causing grievous hurt by doing rash or negligent actDuring a suo motu on its own motion hearing on the tragedy in the Gujarat High Court recently the Oreva Group offered to pay compensation to the victimsHowever the court made it clear the compensation would not absolve it of any liabilityA special investigation team SIT formed by the state government to probe the collapse had cited several lapses on the part of the firmThe lapses included no restriction on the number of persons accessing the bridge and no curb on sale of tickets which led to unrestricted movement on the bridge as well as carrying out repairs without consulting expertsThe probe had revealed the new metal flooring done by the firm had increased the weight of the structure while the rusted cables on which the entire bridge was hanging were not changed by the Oreva GroupMoreover both contractors hired by Patels firm were not qualified to carry out such repair and renovation work according to the SITThe probe report also revealed the Ahmedabadbased Oreva Group did not hire any expert agency to assess the loadbearing capacity of the carriageway before throwing it open to the public after repair and renovation workThe group had sold 3165 tickets on October 30 the day of the collapse alone and there was no coordination between ticket booking offices on both sides of the bridge the lower court was informed in the past by the prosecutionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever