NHA chairman arrested; court rejects interim charge sheet

Court trying accused in Shershah bridge incident says investigation of police officer is "bogus".

KARACHI: A court trying the accused in the Shershah bridge collapse incident, termed the reinvestigation by a senior police officer of SSP level “bogus” and partisan, rejecting the interim charge-sheet submitted last Saturday and also rejecting bail applications of the accused.

Consequently, the three accused present in the court including Chairman National Highways Authority (NHA) Choudhry Altaf, Najamul Hasan (of NHA) and Khalid Mirza (ECIL Consultant Company) were taken into custody. The other two accused Yousuf Barakzai presently General Manager Construction NHA and former chairman NHA Maj Gen (Rtd) Farrukh Javed escaped from the court. Co-accused Raja Nowsherwan, Tehseenul-Haq, Naveed Zaheer and Zaheer Mirza have been admitted to bail.

The Additional District and Sessions Judge Gulshan Ara Chandio earlier held that the police supported the accused during reinvestigations, while in the earlier charge sheet and investigation the police had found evidence against the accused.

The first investigation was ordered by the then prime minister while the reinvestigation was ordered by the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Karachi after the accused Choudhry Altaf moved an application alleging that the investigation officer falsely implicated them due to pressure from high ups after the immense loss of lives in the tragedy.

The CCPO granting the application ordered that a senior officer, not less than an SSP, shall reinvestigate the matter. Iftikhar Hussain Tarar, Former DIGP investigated the case and on the previous date of hearing absolved the accused of the charges submitted before the court. The interim charge sheet left it to the court to decide the fate of accused.

The bridge collapsed on September 1, 2007 at 1pm. A number of vehicles were trapped under the collapsed boulders. Moosa, Rizwan, Shehzad, Ali Muhammad and Fayyaz died while 24 others including three women sustained injuries. A sharp curve in front of Paracha Oil Mills (Textile Mills) due to a design fault was said to be the reason for collapse of the 200-feet long portion.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2010.