Police send debris samples to FSL, questions architect

The Park site police probing the Ghatkopar building collapse case has sent samples of debris to Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory to analyse the material and check the weighing capacity of the concrete.

The police are almost certain that the pillars of the Sai Siddhi building got tampered during the renovation work. "The pillars were removed and that must have led to the building collapse. Now, to confirm this, we have asked a team from FSL to give us a report on how the pillars were removed from the structure," said a senior police officer.

According to the police, they have recovered propping (iron rods) and few other equipment from the spot, which they believe will act as evidence against the accused. This would help understand what measures the accused had taken to provide support while removing the pillars of the building from the ground floor.

Police said the arrested Shiv Sena strongman and secretary of the building, Sunil Shitap, has told them during questioning that he has no idea about the technical aspects of the renovation work or the structure of the building. "He said that he doesn't know how the work was being carried out, He had given the contract to an architect, Ranjit Aagale, a resident of Pant Nagar, who was spearheading the renovation work. However, Shitap admitted that he has made a huge mistake and regrets his decision," said a senior police officer privy to the investigation.

Meanwhile, on Thursday afternoon, the police began questioning Aagale to find out what exactly had happened before the building collapse and what caused the collapse. The senior police officer told DNA that the second accused named in the FIR is Aagale and he will be arrested soon.

The police suspect that the accused had not acquired any permission for the renovation and they are writing to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation asking if any resident had complained to them earlier about Shitap and if necessary permissions were acquired or not.