Ghatkopar: Interior decorator's modifications led to building collapse

17 people lost their lives in the Siddhi Sai Apartment collapse at Ghatkopar

The Parksite police are now in search of a person who directed structural changes to Sunil Shitap, owner of the ground floor in Siddhi Sai building, which collapsed on July 25. They have formed a team to nab Ranjit Adal, an interior decorator, who allegedly gave instructions to Shitap on renovating the nursing home on the ground floor, changes in which allegedly caused the building to fall.

Investigations have revealed that Anil Mandal, who executed the structural changes in the building, was an intern with Adal. Shitap has also told police that he was in search of a new partner for the nursing home and wanted to take it to the next level by upgrading it.

Cancelled licence
The four-storey Siddhi Sai building in Ghatkopar allegedly came down as a result of illegal structural changes made in the ground floor flats by Shitap.

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"He was unhappy with the female doctor who was running the nursing home, and wanted another doctor as partner. She objected to this, resulting in the cancellation of licence by local BMC officials, on his directions," said a police officer. "After cancelling the licence, Shitap wanted to upgrade the nursing home and partner with a new doctor. So he decided to renovate it," added the officer.

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Interior decorator's instructions
Shitap then called 28-year-old Mandal, an intern working with Adal. "Neither Adal, nor Mandal had a degree in architecture or experience of dealing with renovation," said another officer.

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"When Mandal came to Adal with ideas from Shitap about renovation, Adal instructed him." he added. Adal can be the prime accused in this incident, he claimed.

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Adal is absconding. He is a resident of Panvel and hails from Pune. Police have sent teams to both the places to look for him. Police are also looking for labourers who were working on the renovation, but are also absconding since the collapse.