'Multi-state operation, 8 police teams': Here's how Bhavesh Bhinde accused in Ghatkopar hoarding collapse was caught

Ghatkopar hoarding collapse: Mumbai Police in a well-orchestrated search operation arrested Bhavesh Bhinde on Friday, the man whose company had put up the giant hoarding that collapsed in Mumbai's Ghatkopar killing 16 people and injuring several others during a dust storm.

Since the incident, Bhinde has been on a run in different regions. He kept changing his location and created a false identity.

A police official said that after the tragedy, Bhinde left home in a car with his driver and was since untraceable, leading the Mumbai police to launch a multi-state search for him.

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At least eight teams of the Mumbai police were sent to various places to track him down.

The Mumbai Police worked round the clock and deployed eight teams to track Bhinde.

The authorities tracked him in Lonavala, Thane, and Ahmedabad before finally apprehending him in Udaipur. He was found hiding in a hotel under an assumed name.

The operation was so discreet that even the local police were not informed.

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Bhinde, director of M/s Ego Media Pvt. Ltd., the advertising agency which recently installed the billboard that crashed in suburban Ghatkopar on Monday evening, was then taken to Ahmedabad and from there he was brought to Mumbai by flight.

The police team along with Bhinde arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport around 5 am and he was taken to a crime branch office.

He will be produced before the court today (May 17).

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The 120-foot x 120-foot hoarding collapsed onto a nearby petrol pump in the Chhedanagar area in Ghatkopar during gusty winds and heavy unseasonal rains, killing 16 people and injuring 75 others.

After the tragedy, a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under the IPC was registered at the Pant Nagar Police Station against Bhinde, all directors of the advertising agency Ego Media, its officials, and employees.