Shiv Sena leader Shitap to file fresh bail plea in Vikhroli court
Apart from Shitap, the chargesheet also includes architect Ranjit Aagale and his employee.
Mumbai: Shiv Sena leader and builder Sunil Shitap, main accused of tampering with the structure of Sai Siddhi Darshan building at Ghatkopar, leading to its collapse on July 25 and the death of 17 people, withdrew his bail plea in the Bombay high court as the Parksite police filed a chargesheet in the Vikhroli court on Friday.
Shitap will be filing a fresh bail application in the Vikhroli court. The 2,500 page chargesheet has charged Shitap under section 304 (ii) of the Indian Penal Code. It includes statements of the family of victims, structural plan of the building and around 100 witness accounts. Apart from Shitap, the chargesheet also includes architect Ranjit Aagale and his employee.
When Shitap’s bail application came up for hearing before justice Revati Mohite Dere on Tuesday, the public prosecutor told the court that a chargesheet had been filed against Shitap and two others on September 22, hence the current plea had become infructuous.
Following the revelation, the counsel appearing for Shitap sought permission from the court to withdraw the application which the court allowed. The bail application by Shitap in the Bombay high court was prompted after the session’s court had disallowed the same. Relatives of victims in the Ghatkopar building collapse had filed an intervention application seeking cancellation of Shitap’s bail application.
The chargesheet filed by the officials of the Parksite police station has extensive details of the incident and has been beefed up with the enquiry report submitted by the three-member committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which said that there were major structural changes as well as removal of plaster from the remaining beams which led to the weakening of the building’s base.
According to police officials, the statements of the victims, BMC officials, neighbour, eyewitnesses and the labourers at the site have also been included in the chargesheet. It also includes the structural audit report from the civic body, forensic and technical reports as well as the agreement between Shitap and Aagale for renovating the ground floor of the Ghatkopar building.