Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 24: An arrest warrant has been issued by a Gujarat court for Jaysukh Patel of the Oreva Group in connection with the bridge collapse in Morbi on October 30 that resulted in the deaths of 134 persons.
The British-era bridge over the Machchu River in Morbi has been renovated, repaired, and operated by Ajanta Manufacturing Limited (Oreva Group).
In accordance with Section 70 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Morbi MJ Khan issued an arrest warrant for Patel on Sunday (CrPC).
“The court issued an arrest warrant against Jaysukh Patel of Oreva Group, which had a contract for the renovation of the Morbi bridge. He has not been arrested for 70 days. No lookout notice issued yet,” Government prosecutor Sanjay Vora told ANI yesterday.
Notably, Patel had applied to the Morbi Sessions Court on January 20 for anticipatory bail in the case; however, because the public prosecutor was not present, the hearing was postponed until February 1.
In the FIR the police filed in the case, Patel is not listed as an accused party.
Nine people have been detained in connection with the case thus far, including four Ajanta Manufacturing (Oreva Group) employees. They include two managers and an equal number of ticket sales agents from the Oreva Group, which was in charge of overseeing the bridge built in the British Empire.
A century-old suspension bridge collapsed into the Machchhu River near Morbi, Gujarat, killing up to 134 people.
On November 7, the Gujarat High Court took suo motu notice of the Morbi accident and sent notices to various parties, including the state Home department, requesting a report within a week.
In November, the Supreme Court referred to the Morbi bridge collapse occurrence as a “enormous tragedy” and requested that the Gujarat High Court, which was already considering the case suo motu, continue to do so.
