The Mumbai Police has registered a case against Bhavesh Bhinde, owner of Ego Media Private Limited, and others responsible for the illegal hoarding in Ghatkopar that collapsed during a storm on May 13, killing 14 people.
A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered at the Pant Nagar police station, the official said.
Civic officials said at least 14 people were killed and 74 injured after a 100-foot-tall illegal billboard fell on a petrol pump in Ghatkopar during a dust storm and unseasonal rains that lashed Mumbai on May 13.
Police searched Bhinde’s residence in the financial capital’s Mulund suburb, but he was not there, a Times of India report said. Teams have been formed to find him, police said.
A case of rape was registered against Bhinde earlier this year, the Indian Express reported. The Bombay High Court granted him anticipatory bail. The 51-year-old contested the Maharashtra assembly elections in 2009 and said in his election manifesto that he had been fined at least 21 times for putting up illegal hoardings around the city, the report said.
Search and rescue operations were underway at the Chheda Nagar gas station on the morning of May 14, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation officials said.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansarkar said strict action will be taken against those responsible for hoarding.
The billboard was illegal and was installed with permission, civic officials said. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the accident site late in the evening and ordered a structural audit of all advertising spaces in the city.
Shinde also announced assistance of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of each of the slain persons.
