A 47-year-old structural engineer was arrested on Thursday for allegedly giving a stability certificate for the hoarding that collapsed earlier this month killing 17 persons, an official said.
Manoj Ramkrishna Sanghu is the second person to be taken into custody in connection with the accident in the city's Ghatkopar area that also left over 80 injured.
The crime branch arrested Sanghu after his role came to the fore, he said.
Sanghu, who was empanelled by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), had given a stability certificate for the hoarding, which crashed onto a petrol pump after gusty winds and unseasonal rains lashed the city on May 13.
M/s Ego Media Private Limited had erected the hoarding on a plot in the possession of the Government Railway Police (GRP).
While installing the 120 feet x140 feet hoarding, the foundation should have been at least 20 feet deep, but it was superficial and substandard, the official said. Instead of raising objection, Sanghu issued a stability certificate for it, he said.
Sanghu would be produced in the court on Friday.
Bhavesh Bhinde, director of Ego Media, was arrested from Udaipur in Rajasthan three days after the hoarding collapsed. He is currently in judicial custody.
Police have registered a case under IPC sections, including 304-2 (when there is knowledge that death may be caused by one's act), 338 (endangering life or personal safety of other) and 34 (common intention), against directors and officials of Ego Media and other related persons.
They have now added section 120B (criminal conspiracy) to the FIR.
Janhavi Marathe, a former colleague of Bhinde, has been shown as a wanted accused. She has applied for anticipatory bail but police will object to it, the official added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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