Owner of Advertising Agency Arrested After Deadly Billboard Collapse in Mumbai

GG News Bureau
Mumbai, 17th May. Bhavesh Bhinde, the owner of Ego Media Pvt Ltd, has been arrested following a tragic billboard collapse in Mumbai that claimed 16 lives and injured 75 others. Bhinde had evaded police for three days before being apprehended in Udaipur after an extensive manhunt across three states.

The accident occurred when a 120 feet by 120 feet billboard, installed by Bhinde’s company, collapsed during strong winds and unseasonal rains. The catastrophic incident prompted swift action from law enforcement agencies, who deployed eight teams to track down Bhinde.

Realizing the police were closing in on him, Bhinde fled and kept changing his location, assuming a false identity to evade capture. His journey took him through Lonavala, Thane, and Ahmedabad before he was finally found hiding in a hotel in Udaipur under an assumed name.

The arrest operation, described as highly discreet, did not even involve the local Udaipur police. “The operation was a top secret, and even the Udaipur police did not know about it,” said an official from the investigating team. The team utilized a combination of technical expertise and human intelligence to locate and apprehend Bhinde.

The billboard collapse occurred at a petrol pump in the Chhedanagar area of Ghatkopar, highlighting severe lapses in regulatory oversight of advertising installations in Mumbai. The tragedy has sparked calls for stricter enforcement of safety standards to prevent such incidents in the future.