On Monday, police arrested nine people, four of them were members of the Oreva group in charge of the Morbi suspension bridge. They filed a lawsuit against the firms in charge of maintaining and running the British-era building that collapsed, killing 134 people.
"Nine people have been arrested in the Morbi bridge collapse case. They include two managers and two ticket booking clerks of Oreva group managing the bridge," Rajkot Range IG Ashok Yadav said, informing the media of the criminal investigation into the tragedy that shocked the country.
He said the death toll in the bridge collapse has mounted to 134.
People fell over each other when the bridge collapsed, he said. Several victims were seen hanging by the edge of the bridge to prevent themselves from slipping into the river.
After the collapse, all that remained of the bridge was part of the metal carriageway hanging down from one end into the river water, and its thick cables snapped in places.
A day after the bridge crammed with visitors came crashing down, sending people tumbling into the river below, rescue operation continued as authorities looked for survivors.
The more than a-century-old bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi, located around 300 km from the state capital Gandhinagar, collapsed around 6.30 pm on Sunday.
The state information department said five teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), six platoons of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), a group of the Air Force, two columns of the Army, and two teams of the Indian Navy apart from local rescue teams were involved in the operation.
Sanghavi told reporters the state government had formed a committee to probe the bridge collapse.
Police have registered an FIR (first information report) on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and attempt to commit culpable homicide against agencies given the task of maintenance and operation of the bridge.
The FIR, lodged by ¡®B¡¯ division police inspector Prakash Dekivadia, stated that the bridge over the Machchhu river was not in use for nearly eight months as the local administration had roped in a "private agency" for its maintenance.
After completion of the maintenance, the agency opened the bridge for the public on October 26, the FIR said.
The FIR further stated that concerned persons or agencies did not pay attention to the quality of the bridge's maintenance and repair work.
The bridge was opened for tourists by the agency despite knowing that their "callous approach" in the maintenance and management of the bridge may lead to human deaths, the FIR stated.
"We have lodged an FIR and are trying to establish contact with the Oreva company¡¯s staff who were on duty at the bridge yesterday," SP Rahul Tripathi said.
Apart from locals, people from nearby cities and villages had also come to the bridge on a holiday when it collapsed.?Due to the Diwali vacation and being a Sunday, there was a rush of tourists on the bridge, a major tourist attraction.
People formed a human chain at the local hospital to hold back crowds and keep the road clear for ambulances that brought those rescued.
Oreva had carried out the repair work of the bridge for nearly seven months before it was reopened for the public on the Gujarati New Year's day on October 26.
(With agency inputs)
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