Cops confirm illegal alteration, Sainik’s architect on the run

MUMBAI: The toll in the Ghatkopar building collapse went up to 17 on Wednesday, with the youngest victim a three-month-old and the oldest 80. While seven injured were still in hospital, the fire brigade called off rescue operations at 5.42pm, nearly 31 hours after the ground-plus-four-storey Siddhi Sai Co-op Housing Society on LBS Marg came crashing down.
Local Shiv Sena strongman Sunil Shitap, against whom residents had filed an FIR holding him responsible for carrying out illegal repairs that caused the disaster, was produced before the Vikhroli metropolitan magistrate’s court and remanded in police custody till August 2.
Parksite police said their probe had revealed that Shitap, who owned three residential flats on the ground floor which he had converted into a maternity home, had under the pretext of re-doing plaster made “structural changes” to the RCC load-bearing pillars and demolished a wall, which led to the crash. They said he wanted to build a “family restaurant” on the premises.
The architect hired by Shitap is absconding and has been named as an accused, police sources said. Workers on the premises have also been named as absconding accused. Sources said the architect, whose first name is Anand, had assured the police that he would turn up when they called him to the police station on Tuesday but switched off his phone later and was untraceable.
The Sainik’s lawyer Sharif Shaikh told court Shitap was innocent. “He has three flats on the ground floor and one on the first floor, which he uses as his office. Why would anybody damage his own property? He had appointed an architect to carry out the repair work. Where is the question of illegality?” Shaikh asked.
Police said they are likely to record the statement of Shitap’s wife Swati as one of the three flats is in her name. Swati had contested the BMC election in February on a Shiv Sena ticket and lost.
Some N-ward civic officials allegedly close to Shitap are also under the scanner. “It is their job to be vigilant about work going on in the area. Whether they knew what Shitap was doing and had turned a blind eye has to be looked into,” a senior police officer said.
Senior BMC officials too said action against ward-level officials could be expected. “The Designation Officer (DO) of every ward is expected to keep a watch on illegal works. There has been dereliction of duty,” said a civic official.
The police probe will look into whether BMC had granted Shitap permission to do repairs. There were also unconfirmed reports that BMC had, two years ago, stated in its audit report that the building was weak.
A building resident, Lalchand Ramchandani, has in his police complaint stated that Shitap himself was secretary of the society and the residents feared him. Police are to record statements of other surviving building residents.
Fire brigade officials said many of the injured and the dead were pulled out from the building’s staircase, indicating they had made an attempt to escape.
Rescue operations and the clearing of debris continued through Tuesdaynight, with over 66 trucks of debris moved out even as anxious residents tried to locate their belongings. After calling off operations, the fire brigade handed over charge to local police and ward officials.
CM Devendra Fadnavis initially announced a compensation of Rs2 lakh each for families of victims but later raised it to Rs5 lakh when members of the legislative council said the earlier amount was not enough.
Former Congress corporator from Ghatkopar Praveen Chheda meanwhile kept up his attack on Shitap, alleging that in the case of a restaurant in Powai where the Sena man was partner, BMC had served him a notice under Section 351 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act (invoked when an unauthorized structure is built).
It has emerged that Shitap had applied for cancellation of the maternity home’s registration two months ago. BMC’s executive health officer Dr Padmaja Keskar confirmed the registration was cancelled after civic officials carried out an inspection and found medical services were no longer offered there.