Mumbai: Minutes after news of the arrest of the Assistant Engineer of BMC broke on Monday night, two city journalists on duty were detained by the Azad Maidan Police. Even more worrisome, the police threatened to file an FIR against journalist Vinay Dalvi and photojournalist Deepak Turbhekar if they refused to delete the photographs of Sandeep Kakulte (44), the accused. Both scribes are working with a tabloid.
When asked about the incident DCP Abhishek Tri-mukhe refrained from answering any questions and said the investigation was underway. Apparently siding with his policemen, when he was pulled up by the media, Trimukhe stayed mum.
However, this was not the first time that the Azad Maidan policemen has misbehaved with a journalist. In an earlier instance, a female journalist was stopped by a policeman who misbehaved with her when she was calmly crossing a street on CSMT Road.
A day after Kakulte’s arrest in connection with the bridge collapse, the police have also arrested the executive engineer of the bridges department, Anil Patil (53). The police said both the accused were suspended after the collapse and were primarily responsible for regular inspection of the bridges.
The arrested duo were supposed to guide the structural auditor of the Himalaya bridge and point out areas which needed the most repairs, said DCP Trimukhe. Both accused have been booked under relevant sections of the IPC for culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304(2)).
Kakulte was produced in a local court on Tuesday and remanded in police custody till April 5 and Patil will be produced in court on Wednesday. While seeking police custody of Kakulte, the public prosecutor told the court that from the day of structural audit till the day the bridge collapsed, the engineer had been absent from the spot.
Kakulte in his defence said, “I am a handicapped person and had to travel from Virar and due to heavy workload I could not visit the spot. I had also sought transfer from the place to another department.” Earlier, Azad Maidan police had arrested structural auditor Neeraj Desai from D D Desai Associated Engineering Consultants and Analysts on March 18.