Mumbai:

An excavator operator had warned that the place in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar where a 120 ft x120 ft hoarding was being planned had soft soil, but this was ignored. Sixteen months later, the massive billboard came crashing down during a storm, killing 17 people and injuring 74 others.

In its 3,299-page chargesheet filed in a Mumbai court, the Special Investigation Team of Mumbai Crime Branch has also pointed to the alleged collusion of top officials in Government Railway Police (GRP), Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Ego Media Private Limited that set the stage for the May 13 tragedy.

According to the chargesheet, an excavator was at work to set up the huge billboard when a tree fell. The operator sensed soft soil and recommended a soil check so that building plans can be accordingly tweaked to ensure stability of the huge structure. This check would have taken 15 days.

But Ego Media director Bhavesh Bhinde and former director Jahnavi Marathe were in no mood to wait. They ignored the warning and proceeded without a soil check, the chargesheet has said. This alleged negligence, police have said, can be considered one of the reasons behind the illegal billboard crashing during the storm. The excavator operator is among more than 100 witnesses whose statements feature in the police chargesheet.

The chargesheet also raises serious allegations against IPS officer Quaiser Khalid — Khalid is former GRP Commissioner and approval for the hoarding was granted during his tenure — and BMC licence inspector Sunil Dalvi. The plot where the hoarding came up was leased to the GRP, and Khalid allegedly used gaps in law to award the hoarding to Ego Media without a tender process. He has now been suspended. Dalvi, on the other hand, issued a notice to Ego Media over the illegal hoarding, but withdrew it later. His continued contact with Bhinde raised questions.

The chilling crash of the hoarding, which was so big that it made it to the Limca Book of Records, put the spotlight on how rules were being bent and public safety ignored while granting approval to illegal hoardings in the Maximum City. According to rules, the maximum size of hoardings is 40 ft x 40 ft, but the Ghatkopar billboard was thrice the size.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has told the assembly that there are a total of 1,025 hoardings in BMC areas and none of them are illegal. He has said hoardings at Railway authority’s land are not erected after taking permission from BMC. According to a BMC survey, 99 out of 306 hoardings at Railway authority’s land in Mumbai are bigger than the maximum permitted size.

Mumbai:

 The hoarding that collapsed in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area on May 13, killing 17 persons and injuring scores of others, was in use two months before a ‘structural stability’ certificate was obtained for it, police officials said on Friday.

An official also said structural engineer Manoj Sanghu, who was arrested in connection with the incident, may have given such stability certificates to more than 25 structures installed by the concerned advertising firm.

As per the Crime Branch’s probe, Sanghu issued the stability certificate to the ill-fated hoarding on April 24 last year, though the firm which installed it, Ego Media Private Limited. had started using it since February last year.

The official said Sanghu, while issuing the certificate, did not verify whether it was constructed as per norms, adding that he had conspired with directors of the firm and issued the stability certificate irresponsibly.

During his interrogation, accused Bhavesh Bhinde, who is director of Ego Media Private Limited, told police officials he and another director, Janhavi Marathe, had given work of preparing a design for erecting the huge hoarding structure at Ghatkopar to structural engineer Sanghu, the official said.

Marathe, whose anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a court on Friday, is a wanted accused in the case, he added.

“During the investigation, it also came to light that Sanghu received a specific amount each month in his bank account from advertisement firm Ego Media Private Limited between June 1, 2022, and April 10, 2024,” the official said.

Mumbai Police has so far recorded statements of 15 to 20 persons in this case and will also record statements of the concerned officials of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Government Railway Police (GRP) in the coming days, the official said.

Seventeen persons were killed and 80 others injured after the hoarding collapsed on a petrol pump on May 13 amid a dust storm and unseasonal rain.

Sanghu was held by the Crime Branch on Thursday and was produced in the magistrate court on Friday. He was remanded in police custody till June 5.

Sanghu is the second person to be arrested in the case. Police had earlier arrested Ego Media Private Limited director Bhavesh Bhinde, who is currently in judicial custody.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Over 100 notices and penalties have been issued against Mumbai businessman Bhavesh Bhinde, whose company installed – illegally, city officials have claimed – a 14,400 sq ft hoarding in Ghatkopar that collapsed last week amid strong winds and rain, crushing 16 people and injuring 75 others.

Police sources told NDTV the notices and penalties are related to violation of rules for erection of billboards, suggesting Bhinde and his company may be the main culprit in an entirely preventable disaster that has, fortunately (if belatedly) prompted action against other outsized and illegal hoardings in the Maharashtra capital and other cities; Chennai has announced a crackdown too.

Bhinde went on the run after the billboard collapsed but was eventually arrested – three days later – from Rajasthan’s Udaipur. Police said the businessman skipped from Mumbai to Thane and Ahmedabad, changing his name and staying on the run for 72 hours in an attempt to evade capture.

READ | Mumbai Cops’ Secret Op To Catch Billboard Collapse Accused

He faces multiple charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Bhinde also faces 23 prior charges ranging from cheque fraud and illegally cutting trees (so his illegally installed billboards could be better seen) to rape; the latter case was filed in January.

READ | Rape Accused, Aspiring MLA: Man Behind Collapsed Billboard

Sources also said questions are now being raised over earlier contracts awarded by Indian Railways and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to erect billboards and hoardings.

Meanwhile, the inquiry into Bhinde and his company, Ego Media Ltd, has uncovered dubious business practices. Source said that in structuring company leadership Bhinde took similar evasive measures to keep potential blame at bay, including making an associate the firm’s director.

However, Bhinde reportedly retained the final say in negotiating contracts, many of which are being re-examined amid complaints of violation of Railways and the Mumbai civic body.

In December last year, after a row with the ‘director’, Bhinde assumed the position himself.

The hoarding that fell was 120 x 120 feet – so big it was in the Limca Book of Records. However, the Mumbai civic body has said it does not, on paper, allow billboards larger than 40 x 40 feet.

Questions have been raised over the approval process for the billboard’s construction, with the civic body stating it had not signed off and that its approval was necessary for all hoardings. Action has been ordered against all such “illegal” structures, civic body chief Bhushan Gagrani told reporters.

READ | Day After Collapse, Blame Game Over Mumbai Billboard

Bhinde, however, has insisted it received ‘permission’ from the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Railways). The land on which it was built had been leased to the Government Railway Police.

Ego Media built four hoardings on that land, including the one that collapsed.

In a predictable blame game, the GRP pitched responsibility back to the civic body, saying it does not have the equipment to take such structures down and asking the city officials to act.

A BMC official said the hoardings will be razed but offered no timeline.

READ | Fuel Station On Which Mumbai Hoarding Fell Didn’t Have Permit

The focus is also on the petrol station on which the hoarding fell; sources said it did not have an occupancy certificate – a permit confirming a building complies with all codes and regulations.

VIDEO | 16 Seconds Of Horror As Mumbai Billboard Comes Crashing Down

The billboard collapsed on May 13 after an unexpected bout of heavy rain and strong winds hit the city. Multiple disturbing videos of the collapse were soon being shared online, as were videos of other structures collapsing or being thrown about by gusts of wind, including a scaffolding.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde – under fire amid the ongoing general election – announced ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the families of each person who died in the Ghatkopar collapse.

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New Delhi:

At the heart of the tragic billboard collapse in Mumbai, which claimed 16 lives, was an advertising agency, Ego Media Pvt Ltd, that had installed the fateful structure. The owner of the company, Bhavesh Bhinde, managed to evade police for 3 days, but was finally arrested from Udaipur.

He was arrested after an extensive manhunt spanning three states.

The collapse of the 120 feet by 120 feet billboard claimed the lives of 16 and left 75 others injured. The catastrophic incident, which occurred amidst strong winds and unseasonal rains, prompted swift action from law enforcement agencies.

Video | 16 Seconds Of Horror, When Mumbai Billboard Crushed Petrol Pump

https://t.co/FM129UZb0epic.twitter.com/NYWMcu981X

— NDTV (@ndtv) May 16, 2024

Following his realization that the police were closing in on him, Bhavesh Bhinde fled, setting off a pursuit that led through various cities. To evade capture, he kept changing his location and assumed a false identity.

His flight led authorities to Lonavala, Thane, and Ahmedabad before finally ending in Udaipur, where he was found hiding in a hotel under an assumed name. He would be in a new city every time the cops closed in on him, and Mumbai Police had to deploy eight teams, which worked round the clock, to track Bhinde.

The team revealed that Bhavesh Bhinde, upon learning of the impending police action, initially fled to Lonavala before returning to Mumbai the next day. Subsequently, he traveled to Thane, but continued his elusive journey to Ahmedabad, ultimately seeking refuge in a hotel in Udaipur, where he was finally nabbed by the Crime Branch.

He was finally caught after the investigation team utilised a combination of technical expertise and human intelligence.

The Udaipur operation was so discreet that even the local police were not informed that a team was in town to catch Bhinde.

“The operation was a top secret, and even the Udaipur police did not know about it,” said an official on the investigating team.

The hoarding collapsed onto a nearby petrol pump in the Chhedanagar area in Ghatkopar during gusty winds and heavy unseasonal rains, killing 16 people and injuring 75 others.

This incident has highlighted severe lapses in the regulatory oversight of advertising installations in Mumbai, sparking calls for stricter enforcement of safety standards.

Mumbai:

Bhavesh Bhinde, a businessman whose company was responsible for installing the billboard that collapsed in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar, was arrested from Rajasthan’s Udaipur last night and was brought to Mumbai this morning where he will be presented in a court. 

Mr Bhinde, the owner of Ego Media Pvt Ltd, was arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch after a massive manhunt. 

The catastrophic incident occurred on Monday evening when a 120 feet by 120 feet billboard crashed onto a nearby petrol pump amid gusty winds and unseasonal rains, resulting in the deaths of 16 people and injuries to 75 others. Following the incident, Bhinde fled Mumbai in a car with his driver.

A total of eight teams from the Mumbai Police were dispatched to various locations to locate Bhinde who was finally tracked down in Udaipur Thursday evening, three days after the hoarding collapse. 

According to the police, after going to Lonavala, Bhinde returned to Mumbai the next day. From there, he went to Thane, then to Ahmedabad, and after changing locations several times, he changed his name and hid in a hotel in Udaipur. Joint CP Crime Lakhmi Gautam, overseeing the investigation, dispatched a Mumbai Police Crime Branch team to Udaipur where they tracked him down and took him into custody.

The search and rescue operation at the collapse site concluded at 10 am on Thursday, as confirmed by an official from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The illegal billboard had been installed on land under the possession of the Government Railway Police (GRP).

This incident has highlighted severe lapses in the regulatory oversight of advertising installations in Mumbai, sparking calls for stricter enforcement of safety standards. 

Mumbai:

A retired Air Traffic Control (ATC) manager and his wife were among the 16 people who died after a 250-tonne hoarding fell on Monday during a massive dust storm that hit Mumbai.

The bodies of retired ATC manager Manoj Chansoria, 60, and his wife Anita, 59, were found inside their car on Wednesday night after the 100-foot hoarding collapsed on top of a petrol pump in east Mumbai. 

They were among the 100 others trapped under the debris after the massive hoarding fell on the petrol pump.

Mr Chansoria had retired as a general manager of Mumbai ATC in March, this year and the couple had moved to Jabalpur.

They were in Mumbai for a few days to complete visa formalities for Ms Chansoria, police said. After completing their work, the couple were heading back to Jabalpur and had stopped to refill petrol at the Ghatkopar pump when the storm hit, they added.

When calls to them went unanswered, their son, who lives in US, reached out to his friend in Mumbai for help. The friend lodged a missing complaint and the police tracked the couple’s mobile phones to determine their last known location was near the Ghatkopar petrol pump.

The couple’s friends and relatives reached the site hoping they would be rescued from the debris. 

So far, 16 people have died and 41 others have been injured in the tragic collapse. Out of those rescued, 34 have survived and were discharged after treatment from various Mumbai hospitals.

Search and rescue operations at the site of the collapse have been called off after all bodies were pulled from the debris.

While the Brihanmumbai Corporation does not allow hoardings larger than 40×40 feet, this hoarding was three times larger, spanning 120×120 feet and weighing 250 tonnes. Since the city is near the sea, high speed winds pose a risk to any such massive structure erected closer to the coastline. 

A case of culpable homicide has been filed against Bhavesh Bhinde, the owner of the advertising agency that erected the billboard. Bhinde has over 20 police cases filed against him, including one of rape.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced a compensation of ₹ 5 lakh to the families of the people who were killed in the tragedy and has also said that the government will bear the cost of treatment for those who were injured.

Mumbai:

Fourteen people died and over 70 were injured when a massive billboard collapsed during a fierce storm that battered Mumbai Monday evening.

The 100-foot billboard, situated opposite a fuel station in the Ghatkopar area of Mumbai, succumbed to the ferocity of the storm, crashing down with alarming force, directly onto the fuel station below. CCTV footage from the area captured the metal structure tearing through the roofs of several cars before thudding on the ground.

Search and rescue mission is currently in progress. The NDRF has dispatched two teams to assist in collaboration with the Mumbai Fire Brigade and other involved agencies.

Video | Huge Scaffolding Ripped Apart By Dust Storm In Mumbai

The hoarding was erected by Ego Media on a plot which has been leased to the Police Welfare Corporation by the Maharashtra government’s Police Housing Division. There are four hoardings from Ego Media on the premises, one of which collapsed Monday evening. Mumbai Police registered a case against the owner of Ego Media, along with others implicated in the incident.

Although Ego Media was granted permission for all four hoardings, including the one that fell, by the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Railways), no authorisation or No Objection Certificate (NOC) was obtained from the BMC before installation. Consequently, the BMC has issued a notice to the Railway Police’s ACP and the Railway Commissioner, demanding the cancellation of all permissions granted by the Railways and the removal of the hoardings.

In Pics | Mumbai Sky Turns Murky After Massive Dust Storm, Rainfall

Mumbai last evening found itself besieged by a sudden and powerful dust storm which enveloped the metropolis in darkness, with residents taking to social media to share accounts of the unfolding chaos.

Transport networks bore the brunt of the storm’s fury, with local trains and airport services grinding to a halt in the face of the storm. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) was compelled to suspend flight operations temporarily, citing low visibility and gusty winds as the reasons.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued urgent warnings, forecasting thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and heavy rain for Mumbai and surrounding areas. 

While the unseasonal rain offered some respite from the sweltering heat, power outages in various districts, including Thane’s Kalwa, added further hardships for residents already grappling with the aftermath of the storm. Uprooted trees and structural damage were also reported from satellite towns such as Thane, Ambernath, Badlapur, Kalyan, and Ulhasnagar.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the site of the collapse and assured that his government would conduct a structural audit of all hoardings in the city.  

“The hoardings, if found illegal and dangerous, would be removed immediately,” he said. “It is a very unfortunate incident. The government will probe it, and the people responsible will face action. I have also asked the BMC commissioner to conduct a structural audit of all the hoardings in the city. Those found illegal and dangerous will be removed.”

The Chief Minister also announced an aid of Rs 5 lakh to the families of each person killed in the hoarding collapse.