Digital Desk: Two management of the Oreva group and two representatives of the Surendranagar-based contractors, who were sublet the work by the Oreva company, were put into judicial prison by a magistrate's court in Morbi, Gujarat, on Saturday.
They were detained in connection with the tragic "Jhulto Pul"
incident on the Machchhu River on October 30, which may have resulted in 135
fatalities. On November 1, the accused was given a five-day remand, which ended
on Saturday.
The prosecution had
asked for a further five days of detention and claimed that the Rajkot
Collector's office had not yet provided the police with specific documents
pertaining to a 2008 agreement between the Oreva-Ajanta group and the Morbi
municipality. The bridge was governed by Rajkot in that year.
The arrangement called
for turning over control of the suspension bridge to a private company.
About seven months
ago, the bridge's operational use was discontinued. A private company, Oreva
Group, was awarded the contract in March of this year to care for, run, and
secure the bridge for the ensuing 15 years.
The company had also subcontracted the 230 m (754 ft) span over the Machchhu River erected during British occupation in the 19th century to Dhangadhra-based contractor Devprakash Solution.
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