By Rukma Rathore

Copyright opindia

The investigation into the hoarding collapse disaster in Ghatkopar of Mumbai, Maharashtra which killed 17 people and injured 80 last year identified “criminal conspiracy,” according to a high-level committee led by retired judge Justice Dilip Bhosale, reported The Indian Express.

It highlighted the involvement of businessman Mohammed Arshad Khan, BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) official Sunil Dalvi, suspended IPS officer Quaiser Khalid and Ego Media executives Bhavesh Bhinde and Janhavi Marathe.

The report stated, “The sequence of events not only points the needle of suspicion towards a criminal conspiracy hatched between Khalid, Bhinde, Marathe, Dalvi and Arshad Khan, in order to perpetrate illegalities and circumvent the BMC regulations, but it also seems that they have actually committed illegalities, which untimely led to loss of 17 lives in the incident on 13th May 2024.”

The Maharashtra cabinet adopted the report, its recommendations and findings on 23rd September after the committee delivered the same to the government in May. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis led the council of ministers which also instructed the relevant departments to implement the suggestions within a month.

The committee was chaired by former Chief Justice Bhosale of the Allahabad High Court and consisted of the director general of police, the assistant commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, an income tax official, a chartered accountant and a structural engineer from IIT Bombay.

The shocking findings of the committee

According to the committee, Khalid authorised unlawful relaxations while he was the GRP (Government Railway Police) commissioner, such as expanding the size of the hoarding, extending its operational period and erecting a fourth hoarding without a tender which allowed for the systematic violation of municipal regulations.

The report conveyed that the officials were able to get around BMC regulations which stipulate that hoardings cannot be larger than 40 by 40 feet, because the land where they were erected was misclassified as “Railway property” under the Railways Act 1989. The land was partly held by the Police Welfare Corporation as well as partially by the Government of Maharashtra for Railway Police usage.

Ego Media was initially awarded three hoardings, each 40 x 40 feet, consecutively (3 x 1600 x 2 or 9,600 sq ft) for a period of ten years by a Railway Police e-tender. The three hoardings were expanded to a total frontage of 38,400 square feet after Khalid took office. He also increased their operational time from 10 to 30 years and sanctioned a fourth hoarding that measured 120 x 140 feet in tandem (16,800 x 3 or 33,600 square feet) all without requesting approval from the DGP (Director-General of Police) or issuing new tenders.

Monetary fraud and procedural shortcomings

According to the report, the order of money transactions, size increases and approvals amply demonstrated a coordinated network of misconduct. The accused directly caused the catastrophe by increasing hoardings beyond approved limitations, granting operating rights, allowing a fourth hoarding without a tender and enabling payment transfers, including one for Rs 84 lakh.

Additionally, it drew attention to procedural flaws in the procurement process and pointed out that Qicom, a competitor was denied permission to build a hoarding without being asked to submit a business proposition. The committee observed that these actions took place in defiance of the BMC and BPCL’s protests which significantly contributed to the fall of the hoarding.

Mohammed Arshad Khan, a long-time associate of Bhavesh Bhinde handled blank checks totalling Rs 84 lakh from Ego Media. He deposited them in several accounts and turned the money into cash that was presented to Khalid, based on the report which also revealed financial irregularities.

The investigation mentioned that Sunil Dalvi, the BMC senior inspector (Licence), N-ward at the time, maintained continuous communication with Bhinde throughout the hoarding construction process. He approved an unsecured loan of Rs 45 lakh to Ego Media directors Bhinde and Marathe without any security. According to the report, Dalvi was able to facilitate the financial irregularities as he was also the chairman of a credit society.

Khalid continued to be suspended and the other four listed by the committee in its report (Dalvi, Bhinde, Marathe and Arshad Khan) were already arrested but are currently free on bail.

The recommendations detailed in the report

According to the committee’s 21-point recommendations, hoardings should be regularly inspected, a nodal enforcement agency should be appointed, municipal authorities should be given full authority to take action against illegal structures. It further stated that size restrictions should be strictly adhered to, hoardings on terraces or compound walls should be prohibited and steps should be taken to ensure pedestrian and traffic safety, including making access accessible to people with disabilities.

An insider disclosed, “The inquiry highlights growing concerns over regulatory non-compliance in Mumbai, where illegal hoardings have repeatedly posed serious risks. By mischaracterising private land as railway property, bypassing tender procedures, and facilitating financial inducements, including cash dealings of Rs 84 lakh, the accused exploited loopholes in the system, putting public safety at risk.”

He unveiled that in addition to financial gains from the Rs 84 lakh cash transactions and Rs 45 lakh unsecured loan, the audit particularly outlined Bhavesh Bhinde and Janhavi Marathe whose company profited from an expansion in size, an extension of operational rights and permission of the fourth hoarding.

Anatomy of a colossal fraud

On 13th May 2024, a billboard on a petrol pump fell, killing 17 people and wounding at least 80 others, in Ghatkopar. Later, the BMC found out that it was operating without an Occupation Certificate (OC). The local civic authorities didn’t take any action on the petrol pump.

Meanwhile, Nine hoardings were granted to Ego Media in December 2021, according to a series of correspondence exchanged between Ego Media and GRP officials, according to an earlier report in The Indian Express. The company was allowed to run nine hoardings on GRP land, including four at Ghatkopar (including the fallen hoarding) and five at the Dadar Tilak bridge. However, only three of the 40 by 40 feet hoardings at Ghatkopar underwent the tender procedure.

The remaining six hoardings, five at the Dadar Tilak bridge and one at Ghatkopar, were leased to Ego Media without a tender process and the GRP lacked any documentation of their tendering procedure. After the Ghatkopar incident, four of the five hoardings at the Dadar Tilak bridge were taken down because they were too big and didn’t comply with BMC rules which limit hoardings to 40 by 40 feet.

The terms were further amended in favour of Ego Media by the GRP officials at the time of the time of awarding them hoardings. Quaisar Khalid granted a similar request on 7th July 2022 for Ego Media to prolong the contract tenure for the hoardings in Ghatkopar. Ego Media’s expenses were reduced when the GRP extended the contract and reduced the annual rate per square foot for the Ghatkopar hoardings by about 14%.

Numerous tender documents and correspondences between Ego Media and GRP regarding the Ghatkopar hoardings show that almost all of the key terms and conditions listed in the Ghatkopar hoarding tender document were modified after Ego Media received the contract in December 2021, providing the company with greater leeway.

Who is Bhavesh Bhinde

Bhavesh Bhinde was arrested from Udaipur after he absconded following the instance in Ghatkopar. The 120-by-120-foot hoarding that demolished the Ghatkopar petrol station was even recorded in the Limca Book of Records for its massive size.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation already imposed 21 penalties on him for unlawful hoardings. He was also booked under the Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act which addresses cheque and bounce issues. He even entered the 2009 Maharashtra legislature as an Independent from Mulund. The Bharatiya Janata Party accused that Bhinde was close to the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).

14 लोकांच्या निष्पाप बळीला जबाबदार हाच तो भावेश भिडे.. श्रीमान उद्धव ठाकरे यांच्या घरात.. मनाला चीड आणणारे हे चित्र.. त्या अनधिकृत होर्डिंगला संरक्षण कोणाचे होते हे या चित्रावरून स्पष्ट होते.. टक्केवारी साठी कोविड काळातले खिचडी चोर.. कफनचोर.. आजही टक्केवारी साठी 14… pic.twitter.com/5OGtWxh2Pp— Ram Kadam (@ramkadam) May 14, 2024

The Mulund police charged Bhinde with rape, molestation and criminal intimidation. The authorities arrested him two months ago after his girlfriend complained that he had sexually exploited her in the name of marriage. The Bombay High Court granted him anticipatory bail after his submission. According to the police, the chargesheet was filed and the case was being investigated.

Guju Ads which Bhavesh Bhinde once owned and ran was blacklisted by the BMC following many complaints made against both the company and Bhinde. He launched his own business, Ego Media Pvt Ltd, and despite being on the blacklist, he began to secure contracts for hoardings and billboards.