THE MUMBAI police crime branch on Thursday arrested Bhavesh Bhinde — the owner of the company whose hoarding collapsed on a petrol pump in Ghatkopar killing 16 persons — from Udaipur.
Bhinde had been missing since Tuesday when the hoarding collapsed and his mobile phone had been switched off.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Lakhmi Gautam said, “Bhinde has been nabbed from Udaipur where he was staying in a hotel under the name of his relative.
His interrogation will help police get clarity on how he managed to have a 120X120 feet size hoarding installed, which goes against the norms.
An officer said that soon after the hoarding collapsed, Bhinde left his residence and fled apprehending his arrest.
THE MUMBAI police crime branch on Thursday arrested Bhavesh Bhinde — the owner of the company whose hoarding collapsed on a petrol pump in Ghatkopar killing 16 persons — from Udaipur.
Bhinde had been missing since Tuesday when the hoarding collapsed and his mobile phone had been switched off. The local Pant Nagar police had registered an FIR on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, among other sections and named Bhinde as an accused.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Lakhmi Gautam said, “Bhinde has been nabbed from Udaipur where he was staying in a hotel under the name of his relative. Our teams had been trying to track him down and eventually found him on Thursday evening.” The officer said that Bhinde had been using another phone and it appeared that he had help from some people, which is why he managed to stay on the run for the past few days.
Advertisement
A team led by DCP Vishal Thakur had left for Udaipur on Thursday morning after they received information that he had been holed up in a hotel there. He is likely to be brought to the city by Friday evening when he will be produced before a court for the police to seek his custody. His interrogation will help police get clarity on how he managed to have a 120X120 feet size hoarding installed, which goes against the norms. The police will determine if he worked in collusion with some government official, managing to get away as a result.
An officer said that soon after the hoarding collapsed, Bhinde left his residence and fled apprehending his arrest. When the police team reached his Mulund house, he was missing. The police traced his last location to Lonavla, following which a police team was sent there but he was not found at the spot.
An officer said they will also summon officers from the Government Railway Police (GRP) and BMC to get information about when Bhinde was given the hoarding on lease and what action was taken against him if permission had not been granted.
After the hoarding collapse, the Pant Nagar police registered an FIR registered against him on Monday night under sections 304 (culpable homicide), 338 (causing grievous hurt), 337 (causing hurt by negligent act) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Advertisement
During the probe the police further found that he had a rape case registered against him earlier this year and a cheating case in 2016 at Mulund Police Station. Bhinde had contested the assembly elections in 2009 from Mulund and had mentioned he had been fined 21 times for putting up hoardings without permission under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act till 2009.
