Two more held for building collapse, arrests go up to 15

Two more persons including a suspended assistant commissioner of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) and a partner of the two arrested builders were arrested by the Thane crime branch on Thursday in connection with the Mumbra building collapse.

Two more persons including a suspended assistant commissioner of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) and a partner of the two arrested builders were arrested by the Thane crime branch on Thursday in connection with the Mumbra building collapse.

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Shyam Pandurang Thorbole, 56, who was under suspension in a corruption case at the time of the collapse, was arrested for allegedly accepting bribe from the arrested builders, police said.

“Thorbole was trapped by the anti-corruption bureau in a case when he was posted in the Mumbra division as an office superintendent, holding the charge of assistant municipal commissioner. He was under suspension. It has come to light that Thorbole accepted bribe from the arrested builders while they were constructing another illegal building adjacent to the building that collapsed,” said a senior police officer from the Thane crime branch. “His name is mentioned in the diary that was kept by the builders.”

Assistant municipal commissioner Babasaheb Sakharam Andhale, who has already been arrested in the case, had succeeded Thorbole at Mumbra.

The police also arrested Hadis Ulla Rakbulla Chowdhary, 59, a Mumbra resident who was one of the partners in the construction of Shil-Phata building. “We are on the lookout for seven more partners in the case,” police said. The total arrests in the case have now gone up to 15. The police will produce the duo in a local court on Friday.