Police seek details of bridge, to summon four civic officials
MUMBAI: The four Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, who were implicated in the primary report prepared by the civic body 17 hours after a part of the pedestrian bridge near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) collapsed on Thursday, will be summoned for questioning by the city police.
Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Barve told HT that they have sought all information pertaining to the bridge from BMC. When asked if the police are contemplating applying section 304 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) —culpable homicide not amounting to murder—against those responsible for the tragedy, Barve said, “It all depends on the evidence gathered in the probe.”
A senior Mumbai police officer said the BMC has been asked to share a copy of the primary report with the Azad Maidan police station — which has registered a first information report(fir) againsttheaccused under 304 (A), 337 and 338 of the IPC— so as to facilitate the questioning of the implicated officials.
“Our investigation has just started. Not only BMC officials, but the contractors, auditors…whosoever is connected to the safety and maintenance of the bridge will be questioned in the course of the probe,” the official said.
After the collapse on Thursday, the Mumbai police had engaged forensic experts to collect samples of the materials used in the bridge to analyse them. “The analysis of the materials will determine the compressive strength of the building material and that of the N-shaped iron frames that gave way during the collapse. The report will be key to establish the culprits,” the officer said. It is suspected that the rusted portion of one of the horizontal iron beams used to support the floor of the bridge broke off, triggering a cascading effect on the adjoining beams.