Second accused arrested in Ghatkopar’s hoarding collapse case

Manoj Ramkrishna Sanghu, an engineer approved by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), allegedly gave the stability certificate for the oversized, 120x140-feet hoarding that collapsed on a petrol pump on May 13, killing 17 people and injuring several others

Mumbai: The special investigation team (SIT) of the Mumbai police’s crime branch has arrested another accused person in the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse case. Manoj Ramkrishna Sanghu, an engineer approved by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), allegedly gave the stability certificate for the oversized, 120x140-feet hoarding that collapsed on a petrol pump on May 13, killing 17 people and injuring several others.

Manoj Sanghu was allegedly aware that the size of the hoarding was larger than the BMC norms, but still certified it.

According to the police, Sanghu was aware that the size of the hoarding was larger than the BMC norms, but still certified it. The certificate was given on April 24, 2023.

Sanghu is the second person to be arrested in the case after Bhavesh Bhinde, director of Ego Media, the advertising agency that erected the hoarding. Bhinde, who was arrested on May 16, was produced in a city court on Thursday after his 14-day police custody ended. The court sent Bhinde to judicial custody. The police will produce Sanghu in court on Friday for his custody.

The crime branch has also launched a search for Janhavi Marathe, who was Ego Media’s director till November 2023. “Marathe has applied for anticipatory bail in the sessions court. After Bhinde was arrested, a police team went to her place for an inquiry but she was not present at home. She is currently untraceable,” said a police official.

Ego Media had applied for permission to erect three other hoardings on the same plot of land in Ghatkopar along the Eastern Express Highway in 2020. The permission was granted by the Government Railway Police, which owns the land, for hoardings sized 40x40 feet.

In July 2022, Bhinde allegedly approached GRP commissioner Quaiser Khalid to increase the size of the hoardings to 80x80 feet and the length of the tenures from 10 to 30 years. Bhinde also sought permission for a fourth hoarding for which a tender was not issued. Despite this, Khalid allegedly approved the application in December 2022 before handing over the charge to his successor, Ravindra Shisve. The fourth hoarding’s initial size was 120x70 feet before it was increased to 140x120 feet, said another officer. According to the police, Ego Media was paying ₹13 lakh rent per month for the three hoardings (each 80x80 feet) and ₹11 lakh per month for the fourth hoarding.

Students of Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) visited the hoarding collapse site on May 25 and collected samples of the foundation as well as the pilings to prepare a report on its structural stability. The report will be prepared on a priority basis and submitted within a few days, said a police official.