In a major development in the Morbi bridge collapse case, the Municipal Corporation Chief Officer of Morbi has been suspended on Friday amid the ongoing SIT probe into the incident. Meanwhile, the Gujarat government has called off the five-day-long search operation that was launched after the collapse of a British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi town in the state.
The search operation was launched on Sunday evening after the suspension bridge came crashing down. The death toll remained unchanged at 135.
Personnel from the Indian Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the NDRF, the SDRF, the local fire department as well as the police department were deployed to scan the entire river in the area since Sunday night to find survivors as well as bodies using sonar technology and underwater cameras.
According to an official release, State Commissioner of Relief Harshad Patel visited the site in Morbi and announced the end of the ongoing search operation. He chaired a meeting with heads of various agencies involved in the search and rescue operation and took a call to end the operation after reviewing the situation, the release said.
It further mentioned that as a precautionary measure, one team each of the local fire brigade, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will remain stationed at the accident site until further orders.
Inspector General of Rajkot Range, Ashok Kumar Yadav, said no one is missing at present and the death toll remains at 135. He said, "135 persons have lost their lives in the incident and there has been no increase in the toll since yesterday (Wednesday). No one is missing at present as per our records. People who have any information or doubt regarding missing persons can always contact us."
The police have arrested nine persons in connection with the tragic incident so far and booked them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).