Morbi Bridge Collapse: Oreva Group MD Jaysukh Patel Named Accused In Chargesheet

Jaysukh Patel, the managing director of Ajanta Manufacturing Private Limited (AMPL) of OREVA group, has been named as one of the ten accused charged for culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the Jhulto Pul suspension bridge collapse case by the Morbi police in Gujarat.

As many as 135 people were killed in the bridge collapse incident in October 2022.

The over 1200-page long chargesheet has added Jaysukh Patel as an accused, along with the nine other accused who have already been arrested, including two managers at the Oreva Group.

The nine accused are in judicial custody while Patel continues to be at large with a magisterial court issuing an arrest warrant against him on 13 January.

Patel has been arraigned as an accused as all dealings and communications related to the bridge’s repair, operations and management were directly in his purview with the recovery of documents from Oreva’s premises in Morbi showing his signatures on all such documents, Indian Express reported citing the probe team in the case.

The police had filed an FIR under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 114 (abettor present when offence is committed) of the Indian Penal Code against the “agencies responsible for maintenance and management” of the bridge “along with others whose names may emerge during the course of the investigation”, without specifically naming anyone in October 2022.

Later, the police moved the magisterial court for the addition of offences under sections 336 and 337 (hurt and injury due to negligence) of the IPC and the same was permitted by the court.

The chargesheet has been filed against the 10 accused under IPC sections 304, 308, 114, 336 and 337, according to a police official.

Nine people have been arrested in connection with the case, including AMPL managers Deepak Parekh and Dineshbhai Dave, two ticket-booking clerks, three security guards posted at the bridge and two private contractors who had carried out repair and maintenance of the bridge between March and October last year.