Morbi: The Gujarat police registered an FIR last night against an unnamed private agency responsible for the maintenance and management of the bridge, popularly known as "jhulto pul". The FIR doesn't name the firm or its officials but states that the bridge collapsed either due to "lack of proper repair work, maintenance and management, some technical error and some other reasons.
"An FIR has been registered against the maintenance and management agencies of the bridge, under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), and 114 (abettor present when offense is committed) of the India Penal Code," said Morbi B Division Police Inspector, Prakashbhai Dekavadiya.
The police also informed that the management person/ agency did not take due care and quality check of the bridge and kept it open for the people on October 26, displaying severe carelessness.
As per reports, the bridge was closed for about 8 months for maintenance and the repair work was being completed by a private agency.
"The cable bridge on the river was kept open without proper repair and maintenance and carelessness of the management and due to technical issues, the bridge collapsed at around 18:30 hours. Hence FIR has been registered under Sections 304, 308, and 114 of the Indian penal code against the Maintenance and Management person/agency," police inspector Dekavadiya said.
According to the latest reports, the death toll in the mishap went up to 132 on Monday morning.
Teams including Army, Navy, Air Force, NDRF, and Fire Brigade conducted a search operation throughout the night to rescue people who had fallen into the Macchu river after the bridge collapsed. The search operation is still continuing. (Agencies)
