Mumbai Ghatkopar Hoarding Collapse: Crime Branch Arrests BMC Approved Engineer For Issuing Stability Certificate To Ego Media

Mumbai: In the Ghatkopar billboard tragedy, the crime branch on Thursday arrested BMC approved engineer Manoj Sanghu for issuing the stability certificate to Ego Media Pvt Ltd for the hoarding that collapsed on the petrol pump.

Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Lakhami Gautam said, “Sanghu issued the stability certificate to Ego Media on April 24, 2023. The certificate mentioned the size of the hoarding as 120X140 ft. Sanghu was arrested from his residence in Mulund. He is on the BMC’s list of approved engineers.”

Meanwhile, the crime branch opposed the anticipatory bail of Janhvahi Marathe, 45, a director of Ego Media from 2020 to December 2023, from whom the current owner Bhavesh Bhinde took over. While Marathe, a resident of Thane, is currently absconding, Bhinde has been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. Sources said that Ego Media’s earnings was being deposited into the bank accounts of Marathe, Bhinde, his wife, and children.

The crime branch has also recorded the statement of Shahaji Nikam, who was Assistant Commissioner of Police with the Government Railway Police (GRP) in 2022 when the hoarding permission was granted to Ego Media. As per sources, Nikam notified his superiors that Ego Media was seeking permission to erect the hoarding without a tender, which was approved by GRP Commissioner Quaiser Khalid before transferring charge to the current Commissioner Ravindra Shishve.

Sources also revealed that the land on which the hoarding stood belongs to BMC as the civic body sent a letter to GRP regarding pending taxes from 2015 to 2020, which BMC has yet to withdraw.