Mumbai Police arrested a key accused in the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse case from Lucknow on Sunday. The arrested person, businessman Arshad Khan, had been on the run for the past seven months after he was called to record his statement in connection with the deadly incident, reports PTI.
The collapse of an illegal hoarding on May 13 killed 17 people and injured more than 80 others when it fell onto a petrol pump in Ghatkopar amid heavy rain and strong winds.
Investigations revealed that Ego Media Private Limited, which had installed the hoarding, transferred Rs 82 lakh to various accounts linked to Khan.
Khan is reportedly a business associate of the wife of Quaiser Khalid, the former Government Railway Police (GRP) commissioner, under whose tenure the hoarding was sanctioned on GRP land. Following the incident, Khalid was suspended for alleged lapses in the approval process.
Khan, after providing an initial statement, failed to appear before the Mumbai Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT), which has been probing the case. Despite an ongoing search for Khan, he continued to move locations. He was finally apprehended in Lucknow on Sunday, according to officials.
The investigation has also highlighted a series of financial transactions from Ego Media Private Limited to individuals linked to Khan, with many of these transactions taking place when Khalid was serving as the GRP commissioner.