India: Morbi bridge collapse ‘will of God’, says arrested manager of Oreva company

The case of the cable bridge collapse in the Morbi district of Gujarat that killed 135 reached a local court on Tuesday after the investigating officer sought a 10-day demand for four of the nine arrested.

During the hearing, one of the arrested Deepak Parekh, a manager of the Oreva company—which was given the repairing contract—reportedly told the magistrate that the incident took place because it was "the will of God".

“It was the will of God that such an unfortunate event happened," Parekh told Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) MJ Khan, the Indian Express newspaper reported.

The 150-year-old cable bridge collapsed on October 30 claiming 135 lives. The bridge was under renovation for the last seven months and had been reopened to the public on October 26.

After the incident, nine officials of the Gujarat-based Oreva group were arrested on October 31.

Watch |CCTV footage captures the moment Gujarat bridge collapsed

In the court, Deputy Superintendent of Police P A Zala, the officer investigating the case, informed that the cable of the bridge was "rusted" and had not been replaced by the company.

He said that the bridge was opened on October 26 without getting government approval or quality testing.

"As part of maintenance and repair, only the platform was changed. The bridge was on a cable and no oiling or greasing of the cable was done. From where the cable broke, the cable was rusted. Had the cable been repaired, the incident would not have happened," the police officer said.

The bridge was reopened to the public on October 26 without government approval or quality testing. "As part of maintenance and repair, only the platform was changed. The bridge was on a cable and no oiling or greasing of the cable was done. From where the cable broke, the cable was rusted. Had the cable been repaired, the incident would not have happened," the police officer said.

CJM Khan has remanded four of the accused —two managers of the OREVA Group and two sub-contractors who had repaired the bridge —in police custody till Saturday.

The five other arrested men, including security guards and ticket booking clerks, were also given remand for judicial custody as police did not seek their custody, prosecutor H S Panchal said.

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