Mumbai: A month after the Himalaya Bridge collapsed near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) on the evening of March 14, more civic officials are on police’s radar for negligence. Even as cops have already made three arrests in this case and the accused been denied bail, more arrests are likely to be made in the coming days, said a senior police official. Soon after the bridge collapse, Azad Maidan Police had arrested the structural auditor of the bridge, Neeraj Desai, head of the DD Desai Associated Engineering Consultants and Analysts, who was given the responsibility of auditing the bridge and submitting a report.
However, after Desai revealed to have sub-contracted the audit to a Surat-based firm, police and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is re-checking the bridges, whose auditing work was given to Desai. Meanwhile, police are also consulting with several departments of the BMC and other experts in the field, to ascertain who all are responsible for the negligence which led to the Himalaya Bridge collapse. Seven lives were lost during the bridge collapse.
A police official said more arrests are likely to be made. “We are going through every step of bridge auditing and will book all the officials of the BMC as well as other connected parties whoever is responsible for the bridge collapse,” said a senior police official on the request of confidentiality. As of now, Azad Maidan Police have arrested structural auditor Neeraj Desai, assistant engineer Sandeep Kakulte and executive engineer Anil Patil of the BMC’s Bridges department. Even as the arrested trio have attempted to secure bail on several occasions, the Sessions Court denied their bail application as their police/judicial custody is extremely important in the investigation.