Investigators may soon arrest the architect and contractor who helped Shiv Sena leader Sunil Shitap carry out illegal alterations at Ghatkopar's Siddhi Sai Apartment, which resulted in its crash
Picture of cracks in the room on the ground floor before the crash submitted by Sunil Shitap’s lawyer in court. Pic/Rajesh Gupta
Investigators may soon arrest the architect and the contractor who helped hospital owner and Shiv Sena leader Sunil Shitap to carry out illegal alterations on the ground floor of Ghatkopar's Siddhi Sai Apartment, which resulted in its crash and killed 17, police sources said. The police suspect that the people who helped Shitap knew the consequences of the alterations.
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Shitap was produced before the metropolitan magistrate court in Vikhroli yesterday and sent to seven-day police custody. The police told the court that he hasn't been cooperating or furnishing details of the contractor.
The investigation so far has revealed that Shitap had three rooms on the ground floor, where he used to run a hospital. Last month, he decided to convert it into a family resto-bar and started modifications. He demolished walls of three rooms as well as RCC pillars, which caused the building to collapse, sources said, adding that officers are searching for the tools used for removing walls and pillars.
Investigators said they haven't found any documents pertaining to the permissions Shitap claimed he had sought.
The police said they would record statement of residents, many of whom have alleged they were threatened by Shitap for opposing the changes.
Advocate Shareef Shaikh, representing Shitap, said, "There was already a lot of damage to the building and cracks had appeared in the rooms on the ground floor; Shitap was repairing them. He was carrying out alterations to make the building stronger."
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