The building which collapsed in Ghatkopar on Tuesday fell due to the renovation going on in the building’s ground floor. The ground floor was a nursing home run by Shiv Sena’s Sunil Shitap, who was arrested by the Mumbai police and booked for culpable homicide.
But, who is Sunil Shitap?
Sunil Shitap used to operate a local cable network in Ghatkopar apart from being a Shiv Sena worker. However, Shitap didn’t hold any official position in the party.
His wife Swati also contested the civic polls in 2016, but lost the election to a member of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
Shitap was the owner of three flats of the five flats on the ground floor of the building which collapsed in Ghatkopar, as DNA reported. Residents have alleged that Shitap turned the flats into a nursing home, without acquiring the proper legal documentation for it.
He knocked down the walls of the three flats to allegedly build a guest house, which caused the building to collapse.
A few residents claim that when they brought up the matter with Shitap, asking him not to knock down portions of the building a few days ago, he threatened them. Shiv Sena leaders have said that the nursing home was just being renovated.
Shitap has been remanded to judicial custody till 2 August.
Shitap’s father was a musician who played the tasha (a local percussion instrument). Shitap began as delivering newspapers and slowly expanded his business-activities to rise up the ranks and come to be known as the “badshah” of illegal constructions in the neighbourhood.
He is on the board of directors of at least a few companies and and is the owner of three restaurants. Shitap has organised local pilgrimage tours for the neighbourhood residents as local political activities.
He hails from the Konkan region and was a strong leader in an otherwise Gujarati-dominated Ghatkopar.Shiv Sena Leader
A civic official requesting anonymity said,
The building was constructed in 1982 and was not considered as dangerous. He made structural changes to flats, even the usage was changed from residential to commercial. Removing pillars turned out to be the last straw.
(We all love to express ourselves, but how often do we do it in our mother tongue?Here's your chance! This Independence Day, khul ke bol with BOL – Love your Bhasha. Sing, write, perform, spew poetry – whatever you like – in your mother tongue. Send us your BOL at bol@thequint.com or WhatsApp it to 9910181818.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)