Ghatkopar hoarding was over 1.5 times permitted size

MUMBAI: The Government Railway Police (GRP) had granted permission to Ego Media Pvt Ltd for a hoarding measuring 80 feet by 80 feet at Pant Nagar in Ghatkopar. But the company erected a hoarding that was over 1.5 times the permitted size, measuring 120 feet by 140 feet, the Mumbai crime branch informed the Esplanade metropolitan magistrate court on Sunday.

This was the same hoarding that collapsed during a squall on May 13, killing 17 people, following which Ego Media proprietor Bhavesh Bhinde, 50, was arrested from Udaipur. On Sunday, the magistrate court extended his police custody till May 29.

Though Bhinde has claimed that he had nothing to do with the ill-fated hoarding as he became director of Ego Media more than a year after it was erected, the crime branch on Sunday argued before the court that he was actively involved in the same. The company had four hoardings in Ghatkopar including the one that collapsed, with a firm named Minimax handling the marketing. Bhinde used to take decisions over the phone as well as in personal meetings, and screen shots of his conversations with clients had been recovered by the police as evidence, the court was told.

The police also claimed that Bhinde was not cooperating with the investigation – he was neither providing information about who undertook the construction and fabrication work, nor revealing who provided the structural stability certificate for it. The crime branch, which has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident, said various agencies involved in advertising and marketing had deposited money in multiple bank accounts owned by Ego Media as well as Bhinde and his wife and children. Bhinde was the main shareholder and owner of the company, the crime branch informed the court, and said they needed to find out if he and his family members had other bank accounts.

According to the police, Bhinde has been in the hoarding business for over two decades. He owns 28 hoardings all over the city and surrounding areas and his monthly income from the same runs into crores of rupees. He is also implicated in multiple cases at various police stations, including for cutting and poisoning trees to provide clear visibility for his hoardings.

Meanwhile, officials from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) visited the hoarding collapse site in Ghatkopar on Saturday and collected samples of the foundation as well as pilings to prepare a report on its structural stability. The report will be prepared on a priority basis and submitted within eight days, said a police official.

Regarding the question of ownership of the land on which the hoarding stood, the Indian Railways has clarified to the SIT that it does not belong to the railway department. The land in question belongs to the home department, where all BMC rules are applicable; in case anything is constructed on such land, permission is required from the BMC, said a senior officer.

“It was thus the BMC’s responsibility to act against those who erected the illegal hoarding. We will investigate BMC officials connected with this matter, including why they did not demolish the hoarding despite violations,” the officer said.