In connection with the collapse of an under-construction bridge on Alaknanda River at Chauras in Tehri in 2012, resulting in the death of eight people, including an engineer and seven workers, two IIT Roorkee professors from the civil engineering department who were arrested by Special Investigation Team (SIT) police on Sunday have been sent to 14 days’ judicial remand on Monday.
This followed their being produced in the court, Tehri. This is perhaps the first time over 15-year-history of Uttarakhand when two IIT professors are arrested in connection with such an incident. The charges they are tagged with are that while one of them had designed the bridge the other approved it.
Along with civil line police, Roorkee, Kirtinagar police arrested them- Vipul Prakash and Vijay Kumar Gupta- from their respective apartments on Sunday evening.
Professor Vipul had drafted design/ blue print of the bridge while Gupta had approved it. Notably, Professor Gupta had been given reappointment after he had retired in June 2015.
SIT led by Mamta Vohra was formed about six months ago by the State police to conduct investigation into the case, said State director general of police BS Sidhu on Monday.
With the arrest of the IIT academics, the number of persons arrested in connection with the case has gone up to four-the two others being contractors. They have all been sent to jail.
Earlier, the court had issued non-bailable warrants against the two professors after they had failed to appear before it.
On Thursday, the team arrested two persons owning construction companies. The arrest of two of their colleagues has spawned panic among IIT, Roorkee department officials and teachers.
Notably, after the under- construction bridge on Alaknanda River at Chauras in Tehri district had collapsed in 2012, killing eight persons, including an engineer, and injuring 18 others, a case under appropriate section 304 of IPC was registered against unidentified persons in the police station, Kirtinagar, Tehri district. In course of investigation, the names of IIT professors who had designed the bridge had come into light with the design of the ill-fated bridge being found faulty.
Earlier Garhwal commissioner CS Napalchyal had submitted the report of the inquiry into the collapse of the under-construction Chauras bridge on the Alaknanda river to the Uttarakhand Government. It had held seven engineers, contractors and suppliers guilty against the points given for the probe. The Chauras bridge which was to connect Srinagar in Pauri district with Chauras in Tehri district had collapsed on March 25, 2012. The technical inquiry and magisterial inquiry were conducted a few days after the bridge mishap.