Jaysukh Patel, boss of the company that was hired to repair and maintain the British-era bridge in Morbi city in the Indian state of Gujarat, surrendered before a court on Tuesday.
The tragedy that occurred on 30 October 2022 left 135 people dead.
The tragedy that occurred on 30 October 2022 left 135 people dead.
The Gujarat Police issued an arrest warrant against Patel on Friday after he was named the prime suspect in the case. Patel went missing after the tragedy.
The Gujarat government handed the contract for renovating, operating, and maintaining the 140-year-old bridge over the Machchhu River to Oreva group, famous for its Ajanta brand of wall clocks in the country.
A special investigation team inquiring into the case found a number of lapses in the company's renovation, as well as running operations on the bridge. Namely, forensic experts who were called to investigate the site found that the firm had not removed loose bolts, rusty cables, and broken anchor pins as part of their renovation work on the bridge.
The forensic report also said that Oreva group didn't hire a consultant to examine the load-bearing capacity of the bridge.
Although the cable-stayed structure had a maximum capacity for 100 people, there were 300 people on it when it collapsed.
Last week, the company stated during a hearing in the court that the bridge's maintenance was part of its "philanthropic activities" and it was never intended to be a "commercial venture".
A total of 10 suspects were named by police, of which nine were arrested earlier. With Patel's arrest, all 10 accused in the case have been arrested.