Ghatkopar hoarding crash accused gets bail

The hoarding crashed onto the petrol pump, killing 17 people

Bhavesh Bhinde, prime accused in the fatal Ghatkopar hoarding collapse, was granted bail by the sessions court, five months after the incident took place.

On May 13, a hoarding had collapsed on a petrol pump in Ghatkopar, claiming 17 lives and leaving 80 injured. Bhinde - owner of Ego media, the advertising agency that had installed the billboard - was arrested on May 17 under section 304-A (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC. Bhinde was granted bail on a Rs 1 lakh cash bond. The detailed bail order is still awaited.

Advocate Sana Khan who represented him in court termed the mishap "an act of God". "Stormy wind is an act of god and not the act of the applicant. Apart from that none of the statements have established that Bhinde was a part of a criminal nexus with [former GRP commissioner Quaiser] Khalid and Arshad [Khan, allegedly a close aide of Khalid]," she told mid-day.

Suspended IPS officer Khalid had allegedly given permission to erect the hoarding at the petroleum pump. According to the investigators, Rs 1 crore was made to Khan to secure the contract of the 120x120 ft hoarding in Ghatkopar.