Ghatkopar hoarding collapse: Was unaware of complaints about illegalities, says GRP commissioner

Mumbai: In his statement to the crime branch’s special investigation team (SIT), Government Railway Police (GRP) commissioner Ravindra Shisve has stated that he wasn’t aware that four complaints had been filed regarding illegalities in four hoardings erected in the railway police colony land in Ghatkopar East. One of the four oversized hoardings collapsed in May, killing 17 people and injuring several others.

Shisve’s statement was recorded on July 11, a day before the SIT filed its charge sheet in the case. The four complaints regarding the illegal hoardings were made by a former corporator, senior BJP leader Kirit Somaiya and two other persons, said an official. “Shisve claims in his statement that whatever illegalities happened were during the tenure of the previous GRP commissioner,” the official added.

ALSO READ- 20 years later, Maharashtra Bhavan to come up in Navi Mumbai

Advertising agency Ego Media had applied for permission to erect three hoardings on the Ghatkopar plot in 2020. The GRP, under its then chief Ravindra Sengaonkar, granted permission, with the size of the hoardings stipulated at 40x40 feet and a tenure of 10 years, as per the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC’s) norms.

In July 2022, Ego Media director Bhavesh Bhinde allegedly approached the GRP commissioner at the time, Quaiser Khalid, with a request to increase the size of the hoardings to 80x80 feet and the length of the tenure from 10 to 30 years. Bhinde also sought permission for a fourth hoarding, for which a tender was not issued. Khalid allegedly approved the application in December 2022 before handing over the charge to his successor, Shisve.

Khalid, in his statement to the SIT on July 11, claimed he was unaware that the tender for the fourth hoarding, sized 140x120 feet, was not issued. He thought all four hoardings were part of one project, out of which three had already been erected. He said he gave permission thinking of police welfare, according to an official.

ALSO READ- Shankaracharya says Uddhav Thackeray ‘victim of betrayal’: ‘…till he becomes CM again’

An officer part of the SIT said, “The government norms were followed by Sengaonkar, and he even directed Ego Media to approach BMC for an NOC to erect the hoardings”. BMC officials were aware that the hoarding land did not belong to the Railways, but rather to the state government. It was given to GRP on lease and BMC’s NOC was required before constructing the billboards, the officer said.

Also part of the charge sheet is the statement of Arshad Khan, the alleged business partner of Khalid’s wife. Khan told the SIT he was dealing with Bhinde in his personal capacity. He added that he had provided labourers and technicians for electrical, welding and other work for the hoarding, due to which he received payment from Ego Media. The firm made the payments to people who worked with Khan, said the officer.

ALSO READ- UPSC writes to Maha govt over IAS trainee’s certificates

Khan’s name came up during the questioning of Jahnavi Marathe, the former director of Ego Media. She revealed that Ego Media had issued several blank cheques to Khan in 2021 and 2022 when Khalid gave the company the approval to install the hoardings without calling for tenders.

The police have so far arrested four people in connection with the incident: Bhinde, Marathe, Manoj Sanghu, a BMC-approved civil engineer who had issued a stability certificate for the hoarding despite knowing it exceeded permissible limits, and Sagar Kumbhar, the contractor who erected the hoarding. All four are at present in judicial custody.