Kolkata: The company that constructed the Kolkata bridge, which collapsed on Thursday, has been charged with murder. Earlier, a case was filed against the company, IVRCL, under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code, which refers to negligence not amounting to murder, but the charge has been converted to section 302.
Five employees have been detained in Kolkata and two in Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed against the construction firm, seeking quality certificate and financial stability of IVRCL.
This comes even as IVRCL on Friday defended itself saying the company alone should not be blamed for the delay in the construction of the bridge, whose collapsed claimed at least 24 lives in a busy locality of Kolkata.
The company has said that the tragedy was merely an accident. Defending the construction, IVRCL officials said the pillar which collapsed was built with the same construction material as other 59 pillars.
Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, IVRCL legal department head Sita expressed regret over the incident, assuring that the company would cooperate with the investigations in the bridge collapse.
The company, however, added that a sabotage angle could not be ruled out.
"The construction work could be carried out only for six hours a day as the area is very congested," said the company official, refusing to take the blame for the delay in construction.
Responding to a query on IVRCL group head’s statement terming the incident as an "act of God", she said that it was just an expression to explain that what happened was out of anyone’s control, adding, "It is for the investigating team to find out what happened".
IVRCL group head HR P Ranga Rao said that even they were "shocked" with the incident, but could not fix responsibility as of now as it was an accident.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the tragic incident has gone up to 24, with the Army and other rescue agencies said they were not hopeful of finding any more survivors from under the debris.
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