Ghatkopar Hoarding Collapse Case: Mumbai Police Files Chargesheets Against Bhavesh Bhinde, Jahanvi Marathe, Contractor And Engineer; Accused Out On Bail

Mumbai: Mumbai Police has submitted two sets of charge-sheets in connection with the Ghatkopar tragedy – against Bhavesh Bhinde, the owner of the Ego Media, which constructed the hoarding; Jahanvi Marathe, former director of Ego Media; civil engineer Manoj Sanghu, who gave the stability certificate; Sagar Kumbhar, the contractor who put up the hoarding; and Arshad Khan, who helped Ego Media obtain permissions and the tender.

All the accused are currently out on bail

Bhinde has also filed a discharge application claiming that he had no role in the process of obtaining permissions for the hoarding and its construction. He claimed that Marathe was in-charge of the firm and he joined much later.

Marathe, however, has claimed that she did everything on the instructions of Bhinde. Investigators are yet to establish who gave permission to construct the hoarding.

As per the prosecution, Khan helped Ego Media obtain the permission, for which he received around Rs84 lakh. Khan is linked to Additional Director General of Police Quaiser Khalid’s wife, as they are both business partners.

In January a sessions court, while rejecting Khan’s bail plea, had raised several questions about Khalid’s conduct. It, however, granted him bail.

In his plea in March, Khan had claimed that the proposal for construction of the hoarding was forwarded by Khalid’s predecessor, Ravindra Shishve, on February 7, 2023, to the office of DG Railways, whereas Khalid was transferred in December 2022.