JD-U MLA levels serious allegations against additional chief secy over bridge collapse

Patna, June 5 (IANS) While the Bihar government has launched a probe after an under-construction bridge collapsed in Bhagalpur on Sunday, JD-U MLA Sanjeev Kumar has levelled serious allegations against the additional chief secretary of road construction department, Pratyay Amrit, who has been entrusted with the task of conducting the inquiry.

Calling Amrit the 'real culprit', Kumar asked that how could the truth come out if the probe is conducted by him.

"The matter needs to be investigated by a sitting judge of the Patna High Court, and an FIR should be filed against Pratyay Amrit," Kumar said.

The four-lane bridge connecting Sultanganj in Bhagalpur and Aguwani in Khagaria district collapsed for the second time on Sunday. In April 2022, the structure of the bridge had collapsed due to strong wind and rain. The deadline to complete the bridge has been missed for eight times so far.

Kumar, the JD-U MLA from Parbatta in Khagaria district, was the one who had highlighted cracks in the pillars of the bridge on the floor of the Assembly in March. At that time, RJD leader and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav had replied that action will be taken against the construction company and things will be rectified.

"After corruption surfaced for the first time last year, I had met Pratyay Amrit and showed him photographs of the cracks in the pillars but he refused to accept the fact. He showed me a video of a pillar and said that the crack had appeared there and the construction company had demolished the pillar and constructed a new one. The same pillar collapsed on Sunday," Kumar said.

"This shows that Pratyay Amrit is directly involved in the corruption. So if the government gives him the task of conducting the probe, it will be the biggest mockery of justice. The truth will come out only if the matter is probed by a high court judge. We know who all are involved in the corruption," Kumar said.

"The state government should sack officials like Pratyay Amrit. When he was in the health department, he had claimed to be the most knowledgeable doctor; when he joined the road construction department, he declared himself as the most learned civil engineer. If the state government makes him the secretary in the law department, he will claim to be a judge. I have sought an appointment with the Chief Minister and I will request him to take action against such an officer," Kumar said.

"Pratyan Amrit is saying that a new bridge will be constructed at the same place, but that does not mean that the corruption that took place while building the now collapsed bridge will be wiped out. If a person survives an attack, it doesn't mean that the attacker is not guilty," he said.

"Since the S.K. Singhla Company took contract of the project, around 24 people have been killed till. Corruption took place at a large scale, but no action has been taken against the company. Had the state government taken action after the first collapse in April last year, such incidents would not have repeated," Kumar added.