Mumbai hoarding crash: Ad firm paid Rs 46 lakh to company of IPS officer's wife, claims Kirit Somaiya

BJP leader alleges ₹46 lakh bribe in Mumbai hoarding collapse, calls for action against officials.

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on June 23 alleged that ad firm director Bhavesh Bhinde had paid ₹46 lakh as a bribe to a company of the wife of the then GRP Commissioner who permitted the installation of the hoarding which collapsed in Mumbai last month.

In a series of posts on X, Mr. Somaiya claimed that ₹5 crore was paid by Ego Media Pvt Ltd (where Mr. Bhinde was the director) to various railway police and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials for "two dozen illegal hoardings" in Ghatkopar and Dadar areas of Mumbai.

The former BJP MP said he wrote to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, requesting him to suspend then Government Railway Police Commissioner Quaiser Khalid for “Ghatkopar Hoardings Scam bribe”.

A giant hoarding collapsed in Mumbai's Ghatkopar area on May 13 during gusty winds and unseasonal rains, killing 17 persons and injuring more than 70 others, according to police.

The land in question was in possession of the Government Railway Police and permission to erect the hoarding near a petrol pump was given to Ego Media Pvt Ltd for 10 years with the approval of then-GRP Commissioner Quaiser Khalid, a senior official earlier said.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) had been formed to conduct a probe into the hoarding collapse incident.

"Ghatkopar Hoardings Tragedy. Proof & Bank Entries of ₹46 lacs Bribes detected by Police SIT. Bhavesh Bhinde paid ₹46 lacs to Kaiser Khalid (Railway Police Commissioner) via Mohammad Arshad Khan. Mohammad Arshad Khan deposited this ₹46 lacs in Mahapatra Garments Pvt Ltd," Somaiya claimed in a post on X on Sunday.