Mamata says no politics on Morbi bridge tragedy. Then has a query for CBI, ED

Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed her shock and pain at the bridge collapse incident in Gujarat’s Morbi that claimed over 130 lives. She said she would not indulge in “politics” over the issue as “people’s lives were more important”.

Banerjee, who was speaking to reporters at the Kolkata airport before leaving for Chennai to meet Tamil Nadu CM and DMK boss MK Stalin, said a Supreme Court-monitored judicial commission should be formed to probe the incident.

“I won’t comment on it as people’s lives are more important than politics. I express my condolences. Many have died and many are still missing. A judicial commission should be made under the SC to probe the Morbi incident,” she said.

Banerjee also asked why central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation were not taking action against those involved in the tragedy, adding that accountability must be fixed.

“Why’re the ED and CBI not taking action against criminals involved in the Morbi incident? They take action against only common people. Accountability should be fixed.”

She, however, refused to speak against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his 2016 “act of fraud” comment following the collapse of a bridge on a busy Kolkata road. “I won’t talk anything about the PM (Narendra Modi) as it is his state…I’ll not talk anything about politics,” she said.

A century-old suspension bridge collapsed in Gujarat’s Morbi on October 30 killing at least 135 people. Of the nine people arrested so far in the case, four have been sent to police custody and the remaining five to judicial custody till November 5, reported news agency ANI.

Of the four persons in police custody, two are managers of the Oreva company, which threw the bridge open for visitors after seven months of maintenance work, and the other two are connected to the contractors.