Hoarding collapse: Accused Bhavesh Bhinde sent in police custody till May 26

Mumbai: A court here on Friday remanded Bhavesh Bhinde, director of the advertising firm which had installed the hoarding that collapsed in suburban Ghatkopar and claimed 16 lives, in police custody till May 26.

He was arrested in Udaipur, Rajasthan, on Thursday and brought to the city.

M/S Ego Media Pvt Ltd, his advertising firm, managed the giant hoarding that collapsed on a petrol pump during a dust storm on May 13.

As Bhinde absconded after the incident, police registered a case against him for alleged `culpable homicide not amounting to murder' under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code.

After his arrest, crime branch of Mumbai police produced Bhinde before additional chief metropolitan magistrate (Esplanade court) K S Zanwar and sought his custody for 14 days.

His agency managed three or four more hoardings, and a thorough investigation was needed in the matter, police said.

Rs five crore is required to manage one hoarding, and it needed to probe financial aspects of Bhinde's business, besides finding out who gave the certificate for structural stability and permissions for installation, it said.

Advocate Rizwan Merchant, appearing for the accused, claimed that police did not tell Bhinde the grounds of his arrest which made the remand plea invalid.

Bhinde became director of the firm in December 2023 while the contract for the ill-fated hoarding was given to Ego Media in November 2022, hence he was not responsible for what happened at that point of time, the lawyer argued.

The court, after hearing both the sides, sent the accused in police custody till May 26.

As per the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, it had not granted permission for the hoarding.