Mumbai hoarding crash: Billboard owner Bhavesh Bhinde arrested from Udaipur

In a big breakthrough, the Mumbai Police tracked and arrested Bhavesh Bhinde -- the owner of the hoarding that crashed in Ghatkopar on 13 May -- from his hideout in Rajasthan's Udaipur, sources said in Mumbai on Thursday, 16 May.

Bhinde, a director at EGO Media Co., was on the run ever since the gigantic billboard crashed on Monday, claiming 16 lives and injuring 88 others.

Soon after the tragedy, the Mumbai Police had lodged a case against Bhinde invoking the stringent charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

An official source said the Bhandup police had formed multiple teams to track down Bhinde, who was constantly on the move and changing locations, making it difficult for the police to pin him down.

Finally, a Crime Branch team pursuing him managed to zero in on Bhinde in Udaipur. He is being brought to Mumbai.

Besides the hoarding crash case, Bhinde - who claims to be politically connected - is facing several other cases at different police stations in the city.

Bhinde is likely to be produced before a Mumbai court on Friday.

Besides the human casualties, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Thursday that so far, the civic teams have recovered mangled remains of 71 vehicles, including two trucks, 31 four-wheelers, 8 autorickshaws, and 30 two-wheelers.