7 Morbi bridge collapse accused denied bail

RAJKOT: A court in Morbi on Saturday rejected the bail applications of seven people arrested in connection with the collapse of a suspension.
The court of principal sessions judge P C Joshi refused to grant bail to the seven, including two managers of Oreva Group.
The accused, Deepak Parekh and Dinesh Dave, managers of Oreva group who were responsible for bridge operation; ticket clerks Mahadev Solanki and Mansukh Topiya, and security guards Alpesh Gohil, Dilip Gohil and Mukesh Chauhan, had moved a bail application contending that they were only employees and working on superior's order.
The bail plea of Devang Parmar and his father Prakash, who was subcontracted to repair the bridge, is scheduled on February 6. The special investigation team (SIT) found that Parmar's firm DevPrakash Solutions was not qualified to carry out this work.
According to the SIT, the lapses included lack of restriction on the number of persons accessing the bridge and no curb on the sale of tickets, which led to unrestricted movement
Meanwhile, the Morbi municipality received the SIT report and relevant documents sought from the government. Replying to the show-cause of the state government, the civic body had stated that they don't have the relevant documents to give a detailed response.
The municipality is expected to file its reply in the next couple of days on why it should be dissolved.