Just days after the foot overbridge collapse on March 14 killed six people, and left 30 injured, the Mumbai Police on Monday said they have arrested Neerajkumar Desai, the owner of the firm that conducted a structural audit of the foot overbridge.“We are conducting an independent investigation and we assure citizens that a chargesheet will be filed soon,” the police said.
This is the first arrest made in the case. The police also said they have taken statements from the officials of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and are investigating the matter. The structural audit of the bridge had come under severe criticism after it came to light that the audit had said that the bridge was not in a severe condition and that it required minor repairs only.
“There is prima facie reason to believe that the structural audit has been conducted in an irresponsible and negligent manner,” the police said. On March 15, the Mumbai Police filed a First Information Report against the civic body and ruled out holding the Railways responsible.
The foot overbridge connected the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus with the Azad Maidan police station. The bridge was three decades old and was also close to the BMC office, which attracted lot of public anger forcing the state authorities to spring to action. Fearing the public backlash, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had ordered a high-level inquiry into Thursday’s foot overbridge collapse.
“I have also asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to finish primary repair work of the bridge till the evening so that people can commute hassle-free,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I) Abhishek Trimukhetold reporters.The BMC has also instructed its officials to keep track of all old buildings and bridges and go for immediate repair work if needed to prevent any such untoward incidents from happening.
Prima facie evidence
Police say they have prima facie evidence that audit was done in an irresponsible and negligent manner