Bridge collapse: BMC engineers file bail pleas

Mumbai: Two Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) engineers, arrested in connection with the Himalaya Bridge collapse, have filed a bail application in the sessions court, claiming that they have been falsely implicated in the case. The prosecution is opposing their plea.

Anil Patil and S.F. Kakulte, engineers with the bridges department of the BMC, have approached the court seeking bail. According to public prosecutor Mangesh Arote, the plea will be heard Thursday.

It may be recalled that apart from Patil and Kakulte, the police has also arrested Neeraj kumar Desai who conducted the structural audit of the Himalaya Bridge. Desai in his report termed the bridge’s condition as good.

Desai has already filed for bail before the same court and Sessions Judge S.M. Azmi has reserved order on his plea after hearing the arguments of lawyers. The trio has approached the sessions court after the magistrate court rejected their bail application.

Patil and Kakulte contended that they have been falsely implicated in the case. According to the bail plea, the allegations are concocted and there is not an iota of evidence on record against them to show their involvement in the crime directly or indirectly.

They have been booked under section 304 (II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and other relevant provisions of the IPC. The accused contended that even if it were a case of them not doing their job properly, it could merely be dereliction of duty and not the sections levied in the case.

Although the court is yet to hear arguments on the application, the Azad Maidan police through public prosecutor Arote has already filed its written reply opposing their plea.

According to the police, the accused were not present on the spot during the structural audit of the bridge even for a single day. It is mandatory to carry out inspection of the bridge before and after monsoon, but the accused never did it.