The Government Railway Police (GRP) has acknowledged that its former commissioner Quaiser Khalid had granted permission to Ego Media Pvt Ltd to erect the hoarding that killed 14 citizens after collapsing on a petrol pump, on Monday. They are now checking the legality of the move. The authorities had also apparently turned a blind eye despite the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other authorities writing letters to them warning about the hazards posed by illegal hoardings.

The GRP said the civic body had sent them a letter last week, asking them to remove the illegal hoardings as the owners were allegedly involved in cutting or poisoning the trees on Eastern Express Highway. “We had started to act on the letter but unfortunately the incident took place before the action was completed,” claimed a GRP official.