Bridge collapse: Structural auditor sent in police custody

Structural auditor Neerajkumar Desai, arrested in connection with the last week's foot over- bridge (FOB) collapse here that left six people dead, was Tuesday sent to police custody till March 25, police said.

Desai, arrested Monday, was produced in Killa court in south Mumbai this afternoon and he was sent to police custody till March 25, said Mumbai police spokesperson DCP Manjunath Singe.

The structural auditor has been booked under IPC section 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) by the Azad Maidan police. Offence under the section is punishable up to life imprisonment.

His firm, DD Desai's Associated Engineering Consultant and Analysts Pvt Ltd, had carried out the structural audit of the ill-fated FOB at CSMT railway station in south Mumbai, and declared it safe for use despite some corrosion in the structure, the police have said.

A part of the 40-year-old bridge, which linked the area near the BMC headquarters with the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) station, collapsed Thursday evening, killing six people and injuring 31 others.

Officials concerned of the Mumbai civic body, responsible for the FOB's maintenance, and the Central Railway have been also booked in the case.