Hoarding crash probe: Ego Media paid to people linked with business associate of IPS officer's wife

The advertising firm Ego Media allegedly transferred Rs 82 lakh to the bank accounts of some people linked to Arshad Khan, a business associate of the wife of IPS officer Quaiser Khalid.

Mumbai: The SIT of Mumbai Police probing the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse case has found that advertising firm Ego Media allegedly transferred Rs 82 lakh to the bank accounts of some people linked to Arshad Khan, a business associate of the wife of IPS officer Quaiser Khalid.

Khalid, who was the commissioner of Government Railway Police when the hoarding was sanctioned on the GRP land, has been suspended for alleged lapses. Neither he nor Khan are accused in the case.

The special investigation team will question Arshad Khan this week about these transactions, a police official said on Tuesday.

There were 22 such transactions from the bank accounts of Ego Media Private Limited which had installed the hoarding.

Most of these transactions took place when Khalid was GRP commissioner, the official claimed.

The money was transferred to 16 bank accounts, he added.

"After Khalid's transfer, only four transactions were made from the advertising firm's account to that of the people connected to Arshad Khan," he said.

The SIT will question Arshad Khan about the purpose of these transactions, the official added.

Mumbai Police last week submitted a 3,200-page charge-sheet in the hoarding crash case, which contained Khalid's statement too.

According to the official, Khalid told police that he knew Arshad Khan.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Police has initiated a departmental enquiry against Khalid who was suspended for alleged administrative lapses and irregularities in sanctioning the ill-fated hoarding on his own without the approval of the Director General of Police's office.

As many as 17 persons were killed after the gigantic illegal hoarding crashed on a petrol pump in Ghatkopar area here amid gusty winds and rain on May 13.