Mahesh Kulkarni has written to state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to seek a report from the BJP unit and investigate the matter "to save the party from being defamed".
In the wake of the incident, the police earlier registered a suo motu case of culpable homicide and booked the owner of the site, the contractor who erected the hoarding, the person who had rented it and the firm that was advertising on it, officials said. Officers have till now arrested Namdeo Barku Mhasudge, who owns the site, while the others remain on the run.
Seema Savale, former chairperson of the PCMC standing committee and former BJP corporator, has said that when she was in office she had constantly received complaints that at least Rs 1 lakh was taken from contractors and those wishing to set up illegal hoardings.
Following the collapse, ambulances, fire brigade rescuers, police teams and local residents rushed to the spot and rescued eight persons who were trapped under the steel structure. All the eight were rushed to nearby hospitals where five of them were pronounced dead. One of the five killed hailed from UP.
The bodies of the four friends were brought to YCM Hospital after 8.30 pm. Soon, their relatives rushed to the premises with some trying to barge into the post-mortem centre.