An NCP corporator and Assistant Municipal Commissioner are among the nine people arrested so far in the Thane building collapse case.

Thane Police Commissioner K.P.Raghuvanshi said the builders bribed public servants, including the civic authorities, police and an elected corporator, in lakhs to ensure that the construction work continued without any hindrance.

He said investigation in the case is at initial stage and more people are likely to be arrested.

As the death toll in the mishap on Thursday rose to 74, Hira Patil, the local corporator from Mumbra; Deepak Chavan, suspended deputy commissioner of Thane Municipal Corporation, Babasaheb Andhale, an assistant municipal commissioner, along with six others were remanded in police custody by a holiday court till April 20.

The Police Commissioner said, 5 lakh ruppes in cash and some incriminating documents have been recovered from the residence of Chavan.

Patil has been suspended by NCP. The seven story illegal structure, located in Lucky Compound in Mumbra near Shil Phata area, came down crashing on Thursday evening.