Former NHA chairman escapes from court
Current chairman arrested, former chairman manages to escape from court in connection with Shershah bridge case.
KARACHI:
The current chairman of the National Highway Authority (NHA) was arrested from a courtroom in Karachi on Saturday while the former chairman of the organization, Farrukh Bashir, managed to escape from the scene.
Police had ordered their arrests today after the court rejected an extension in their bails in relation to the Shehrshah bridge case.
The Shershah bridge, which had collapsed on September 1, 2007, barely a month after it was inaugurated by the then president Pervez Musharraf, had led to the death of four people.
More than 13 people had also been injured and six cars damaged when the bridge at Paracha Chowk collapsed.
The hearing of the Shershah bridge collapse case was adjourned on Saturday till November 6 after investigation officer (IO) SP Iftikhar submitted the final charge sheet absolving top officials of the National Highway Authority (NHA) and consultant firm Engineering Consultants International Limited (ECIL) of any responsibility in the collapse.
A day before that, the IO submitted in the charge sheet that project director Muhammad Yousuf Barakzai was appointed after the blueprints were approved and while the construction was under way.
The government has paid Rs1.5 million to the heirs of each of the victims and Rs0.5 million to each of the injured people, he submitted.
The current chairman of the National Highway Authority (NHA) was arrested from a courtroom in Karachi on Saturday while the former chairman of the organization, Farrukh Bashir, managed to escape from the scene.
Police had ordered their arrests today after the court rejected an extension in their bails in relation to the Shehrshah bridge case.
The Shershah bridge, which had collapsed on September 1, 2007, barely a month after it was inaugurated by the then president Pervez Musharraf, had led to the death of four people.
More than 13 people had also been injured and six cars damaged when the bridge at Paracha Chowk collapsed.
The hearing of the Shershah bridge collapse case was adjourned on Saturday till November 6 after investigation officer (IO) SP Iftikhar submitted the final charge sheet absolving top officials of the National Highway Authority (NHA) and consultant firm Engineering Consultants International Limited (ECIL) of any responsibility in the collapse.
A day before that, the IO submitted in the charge sheet that project director Muhammad Yousuf Barakzai was appointed after the blueprints were approved and while the construction was under way.
The government has paid Rs1.5 million to the heirs of each of the victims and Rs0.5 million to each of the injured people, he submitted.