Mumbai
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya accused Bhavesh Bhinde, director of an advertising firm, of paying a bribe of Rs 46 lakh to a company owned by the wife of the former GRP commissioner on Sunday. This alleged bribe was supposedly to secure permission for a hoarding that collapsed in Mumbai last month. Somaiya also claimed that Ego Media Pvt Ltd, where Bhavesh Bhinde was a director, paid Rs 5 crore to railway police and BMC officials for erecting about two dozen illegal hoardings in Ghatkopar and Dadar.
In his social media posts, the former BJP MP stated that he had written to Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, urging him to suspend the then GRP Commissioner Quaiser Khalid over the “Ghatkopar Hoardings Scam Bribe.”
The collapse of a large hoarding in Ghatkopar on May 13 resulted in the deaths of 17 people and injuries to over 70 others due to gusty winds and unexpected rainfall, according to police reports. The land where the hoarding was erected was owned by the Government Railway Police, and permission was granted during Quaiser Khalid’s tenure as commissioner.
Somaiya noted that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to investigate the incident, alleging evidence of bribery involving Rs 46 lakh. He claimed that Bhavesh Bhinde transferred this amount to Mahapatra Garments Pvt Ltd, a company linked to Quaiser Khalid’s wife and Mohd Arshad K Khan.
Currently, five individuals have been arrested in connection with the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse. Somaiya highlighted his expectation for action against railway police and BMC officials involved in the case.
