After the billboard erected by his company fell during the storm in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar on Monday, killing 14 people and injuring at least 74 others, a case has been filed against Bhavesh Bhinde for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The owner of Ego Media, however, is no stranger to police cases and has more than 20 against him, including one of rape.
Police officers told NDTV that Bhinde is on the run and his cellphone has been switched off.
The advertising agency owner had also contested the Maharashtra assembly elections as an independent candidate from Mulund constituency in 2009.
The police said there are 23 cases registered against Bhinde under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act and the Negotiable Instruments Act (for bounced cheques).
In January this year, a case of rape was registered against him at the Mulund police station and a charge sheet was also filed.
Sources told NDTV that Bhinde had bagged several contracts from the Indian Railways and the Mumbai civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), for erecting hoardings and banners over the years and has violated the rules of both organisations several times.
He and others in his company are also named as accused in tree-killing and tree-cutting cases.
The illegal hoarding, which stood on a piece of land in the possession of the Railway Police, crashed into a petrol pump in the Chheda Nagar area when the city was hit by dust storms and unseasonal rain.
At least 89 people were extricated from under the hoarding, of whom 14 were declared dead while the other 75 were injured and are undergoing treatment, officials said.
The hoarding was a 36m x 36m structure – so big that it made it to the Limca Book of Records, an annual publication that documents world records held by Indians. The BMC said it does not allow billboards over 12m x 12m in size.
“A case has been filed in this case as no permission had been given for the hoarding,” BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani said.
“A complaint was also received that some trees had been cut so this hoarding could be visible. We have filed a case in this regard too.”
While Bhinde’s agency has claimed it received permission from the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Railways), BMC officials have said a nod from the municipal corporation is also necessary for all billboards in areas under its jurisdiction.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced a compensation of Rs500,000 ($8,000) to the families of the people killed in the tragedy, and said the government will bear the cost of treatment for those who were injured.
