New Delhi: Rape, breaking municipal codes, and misusing local laws to get government contracts — these are some of the allegations against Bhavesh Bhinde, the owner of the advertising company whose billboard collapsed on a petrol pump in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area earlier this week, ThePrint has learnt.
The billboard collapse, which occurred after a dust storm and rain Monday, killed at least 14 people and left scores wounded. Bhinde, who is currently absconding, has been booked under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 338 (negligence and hurting), 337 (endangering human life), and 34 (criminal act done by several people with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In its official statement soon after the collapse, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that the billboard was “illegal” and that it was the Government Railway Police, and not the civic body, that had given permission.
According to BMC sources, the billboard was illegal and was installed by Bhinde’s company Ego Media Pvt Ltd in April 2022.
Meanwhile, a perusal of the FIRs against him shows a range of criminal allegations, from the relatively milder offence of cutting down trees to the more serious charge of allegedly raping a former girlfriend.
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Rape accused, violating municipal laws
A poll affidavit filed by Bhinde during the Maharashtra 2009 assembly elections — which he contested as an Independent from Mulund — showed he had 23 criminal cases against him, with 21 of these for violating the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act.
In December last year, Bhinde’s former girlfriend had accused him of raping her. According to a chargesheet submitted in the case in March, the woman, who had worked in his company for over a decade and eventually dated him, claimed he forced himself on her when she broke up with him.
An FIR against Bhinde, registered at the Mulund (West) Police Station on 24 January this year, invokes IPC sections 376 (sexual assault), 354 (outraging modesty of a woman, 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) 504 (verbal disrespect) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
According to the chargesheet, Bhinde secured anticipatory bail till 23 April. This has been extended to 13 June on the condition that he reports to the police station twice a week.
Of the 24 cases against him for violating the MMC Act, the latest was registered last month.
In that FIR, which ThePrint has accessed, Bhinde has been accused of illegally cutting down at least 11 trees around the billboard that collapsed between 19 February and 28 February this year.
Last year, too, he faced similar allegations — according to two FIRs registered in July, his company Ego Media Pvt Ltd was involved in cutting down over 20 trees around the same billboard.
All three FIRs were registered on the back of complaints from the BMC. “Trees which had grown in front of the billboard were drilled into and chemicals were injected, causing them to die,” one BMC official told ThePrint.
Blacklisted firm, allegations of irregularities
According to BMC sources, the Indian Railways had blacklisted Bhinde’s previous advertising company Guju Ads Pvt Ltd in 2018 for allegedly manipulating the bidding process by setting up shell companies.
After this, he moved his business operations to Ego Media Pvt Ltd, a company incorporated in 2016. Meanwhile, he filed a Right to Information (RTI) application to the Mumbai Port Trust seeking details about the companies with advertising rights at the port space.
In 2018, Bhinde filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court challenging the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation’s (MSRDC) decision to reject his bid for a project citing unpaid dues. In its ruling, the court ordered his company to clear dues and restrained MSRDC from rejecting his bid.
The case of the ‘illegal’ hoarding
The land on which the billboards stood is believed to be under the Government Railway Police, and therefore, the state government.
In its statement soon after the Monday incident, the BMC said there were four billboards in the area, adding that permission for these was given by the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Admin), who comes under the Government Railway Police.
Unlike the Railway Protection Force, which comes under the Union Ministry of Railways, the GRP comes under the state government. According to municipal rules, while firms don’t need BMC’s permission for advertising on railway land, they would need it for state government land, such as in this case.
A GRP official privy to the development told ThePrint that approval for three billboards was given in December 2021 while the one that collapsed was sanctioned in November 2022.
The BMC’s permission, however, was not sought for any of them. According to the BMC official quoted earlier, when questioned, Bhinde told the civic authority that land belonged to the Indian Railways and “was beyond BMC’s jurisdiction”.
“Bhinde made good use of the loophole in the government rules that said that firms don’t require the BMC’s permission to advertise on land owned by Railways,” this official said.
Upon inquiry, the BMC found that it had been misled and that the land belonged to the state government and had been allotted to the Maharashtra State Police Housing Corporation.
According to sources, three notices have since been served to the GRP and Ego Media, the last one of these on 13 May — the day of the collapse. In its notice, the BMC sought Rs 6.13 crore as licence fee from Ego Media, failing which it had to take down the hoardings.
In the aftermath of Monday’s accident, BMC Additional has ordered the hoardings to be removed. The GRP has agreed to comply.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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