Owner of collapsed illegal hoarding in Mumbai previously booked for rape, known for illegal banners

sabrang — Tue, 14 May 2024 13:11:09 +0000

On May 13, as a case was filed on the owner of the illegal hoarding that collapsed on a petrol pump in the Ghatkopar area of Mumbai, following gusty winds and rain which resulted in 14 deaths so far, shocking criminal antecedents of the owner, namely Bhavesh Prabhudas Bhinde, have come forth. Bhinde is the director of Ego Media Pvt Ltd that owned the massive 120×120 illegal hoarding as against the permitted size of 40 x 40 feet. As per a report of News18, Bhinde had been booked by Mumbai police in a rape and molestation case earlier this year. It is essential to note that Bhinde had been absconding.

Criminal antecedents: As per the details provided in the rape case, a rape and molestation case had been registered against Bhinde at the Mulund police station on January 24 this year. Bhinde had been under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code. As per court documents, he had been granted anticipatory bail by the Bombay High Court. Ajay Joshi, Senior Inspector, Mulund Police Station also informed News18 that a chargesheet had also been filed in the said matter and it is pending trial. The report quoted the police official and provided that “A rape case was registered against him. A chargesheet has already been filed in the matter”.

Apart from this, Bhinde had also declared 21 instances where he was fined under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act for putting up banners without permission when he had contested as an independent candidate in the 2009 Maharashtra Assembly elections. In these 21 cases, he had been charged under sections 328 (putting hoarding without permission) and 471 (fines) of the MMC Act. In addition to this, Bhinde had declared two offences related to the Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act that usually pertain to cheque bouncing. Notably, the status of the cases is unclear.

FIR in present case: The Pant Nagar police, under whose jurisdiction the Mumbai hoarding collapse incident took place, had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the 51-year-old Bhinde. In the said FIR, lodged on Monday night, he has been charged under sections 304 (culpable homicide), 338 (causing grievous hurt), 337 (causing hurt by negligent act), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Reactions of official bodies to the incident: On Monday, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief Bhushan Gagrani said the Ghatkopar hoarding was illegal as the civic body had not permitted erecting it. As per the report of News18, Gagrani had said that “the location where the incident occurred has four hoardings set up on the Railway land and one of them has collapsed. The BMC had been objecting to (setting up) hoardings for one year.” It is essential to note that now, pursuant to the incident which also left 76 injured, BMC has provided that it will take down remaining billboards on the GRP land where the hoarding collapsed.

While Bhinde remains on the run, Mumbai police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar has assured of taking strict action against those responsible for the incident.

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Owner of collapsed illegal hoarding in Mumbai previously booked for rape, known for illegal banners