Ghatkopar Hoarding Collapse Case: Railway Police Commissioner Allegedly Pressured Officer to Approve Unauthorized Hoarding

While granting permission to EGO Media Private Limited for putting up a hoarding, Mumbai Government Railway Police Administrative Police Inspector (PI) Shahji Nikam remarked that permission for the hoarding is granted by the Railway DG. Despite this, then Railway Police Commissioner Quaiser Khalid gave the permission. When Nikam refused to sign this permission, Khalid threatened to transfer him to the control room. Shahji Nikam stated to the investigating officer that Bhavesh Bhinde was also present at the time when Khalid pressured him to sign.

In the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse case, Mumbai Crime Branch has filed a 3299-page charge sheet. Statements from more than 100 people have been recorded in this charge sheet, including PI Shahji Nikam's statement. Since Nikam was in charge of the Admin ACP, his signature was required for granting the hoarding permission. However, he refused to sign and noted that permission from the DG office was required for the hoarding. According to the statement in the charge sheet, Khalid was transferred from the post of Railway Police Commissioner. Before relinquishing his charge, Khalid called Nikam and asked him to sign the hoarding permission, threatening to transfer him to the control room if he refused.

In his statement in the charge sheet, Nikam said that Khalid told him that if Khalid himself had signed, then what was the problem for Nikam to sign, following which Nikam signed the permission documents by writing "FOR Commissioner."

The charge sheet also detailed how a 200 square foot hoarding became 33,000 square feet. After the preliminary investigation of the case following the collapse of illegal hoardings in Ghatkopar, the Maharashtra government suspended IPS Quaiser Khaild. Among the four arrested accused are Janhvi Marathe and Bhavesh Bhinde, the former and current owners of EGO Media Company, which had the 140X120 feet hoarding; Manoj Sanghu, who gave the structural safety certificate; and Sagar Patil, who supervised the construction of the hoarding.