Former MP and BJP leader Kirit Somaiya has alleged that the MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray had given the contract for the hoardings in Ghatkopar, one of which collapsed on Monday, resulting in death of 16 people. Somaiya claimed that Bhavesh Bhinde, the owner of the agency Ego Media that had erected the hoarding, is a friend of Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Sunil Raut.
In a post on social media site X on Thursday morning, Somaiya said that Bhinde's agency paid a meagre rent of Rs 24 Lakh per annum, whereas its earning from the hoardings was Rs 25 crore a year. He said the Thackeray government had given the contract for the hoardings to Bhinde in November 2021.
Earlier on Wendnesday, Somaiya had said that there were more than a dozen cases filed against Ego Media's Bhinde, which was also reflected in his election affidavit when he contested assembly elections a decade back. Somaiya also claimed to have filed complaint against the hoarding that collapsed weeks prior to the accident.
He also said he had filed complaint against Bhinde in 2018 with railway authorities for illegal hoardings & corrupt practices in Mulund and Ghatkopar areas and action was taken against him.
Rescue workers on Wednesday night retrieved two more bodies from a car at the site where a 120x120 feet hoarding came crashing down on a petrol pump at Chheda Nagar in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area following gusty winds and unseasonal rain on Monday evening, taking the death toll to 16.
According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the hoarding stood on a piece of land in possession of the Government Railway Police (GRP). The police probe has pointed out that Ego Media Private Limited, the agency which put up the hoarding, failed to meet the standards set for soil checks and structural audits of the structure’s pillars.
The BMC had issued three notices to the agency over the past year, one of them being sent hours before the tragedy. The latest BMC notice had stated that, “The illegal advertisement panels were erected without acquiring any permission from us [BMC] and this is a violation under Section 388 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation.”
Bhavesh Bhinde, the owner of Ego media, has been absconding since the day of the tragedy.