Maharashtra: Horse injured, vehicles damaged as hoarding collapses in Pune due to strong winds

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A horse was injured and a few vehicles were damaged after a hoarding collapsed due to strong winds in Maharashtra's Pune city, police said, reported news agency PTI.

Hoarding collapses in Pune: Billboard crashed outside a wedding hall

The billboard crashed to the ground between 5 pm and 6 pm on Saturday outside a wedding hall near Kavdi Pat toll booth on the Pune-Solapur Highway, an official said, reported PTI.

The incident comes days after a giant illegal billboard in Mumbai's Ghatkopar area collapsed on a petrol pump due to gusty winds and unseasonal rains, killing 16 persons and injuring 75.

Hoarding collapses in Pune: Horse injured, vehicles damaged

Citing preliminary information about the incident in Pune, the police on Saturday said the hoarding collapsed due to strong winds and it fell on a horse, and a few vehicles, including one brought by a band party, outside the Gulmohar Lawns wedding hall, reported PTI.

The injured horse was rescued and taken for treatment, the official said, reported PTI.

Hoarding collapses in Pune: Other incidents

Meanwhile, the investigation into the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse incident has been transferred to the crime branch of Mumbai Police, an official said on Friday, reported PTI.

Earlier in the day, accused Bhavesh Bhinde, director of the Ego Media advertising agency which had erected the hoarding that collapsed on a petrol pump on Monday evening and claimed 16 lives, was sent in police custody till May 26 by a local court.

The probe was transferred to the crime branch considering its scope, a senior police official told PTI.

Bhinde, booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under IPC section 304, was arrested in Jaipur on Thursday, reported PTI.

As per the investigation, he fled the city on the night of the incident (May 13), and went to Lonavala by car with a driver.

On May 14, he went to Panvel, from where he travelled to Ahmedabad by train. A police team sent to Ahmedabad found that the accused had left for Udaipur. Bhinde was then tracked to a hotel in the Rajasthan city where he had booked a room in the name of his nephew, Bhavin Pujara, reported PTI.

The crime branch team recovered five mobile phones and six SIM cards from his possession.

Ego Media Pvt Ltd had not obtained permission from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to erect the hoarding on Government Railway Police (GRP) land, the police official said, reported PTI.

Also, the firm did not conduct a structural audit of the place before installing the hoarding, and used substandard material for the work, he said, reported PTI.

Meanwhile, a report prepared by the Director General of GRP about the hoarding collapse incident was forwarded to the Maharashtra home department on Thursday, officials said.

(With inputs from PTI)