Owners still at large, lackeys held
Under extreme pressure to make arrests in the Kamala Mills fire case, the NM Joshi Marg police on Monday picked up from their homes Kevin Bawa (35) and Gisbon Lopez (34), both managers of the 1Above pub, the ill-fated eatery where 14 people died.
The two were present in the pub when the blaze started but fled without helping the guests, claim media accounts.
Surprisingly, both the managers have been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder among other sections of the IPC. A similar case of culpable homicide has already been slapped on the pub owners.
The two managers have been remanded to police custody till January 9.
The defence lawyer argued that the police should have booked them for causing death by negligence under 304(A) of the IPC which is a bailable offence. He claimed that the police had intentionally booked Bawa and Lopez under non-bailable offences.
The police believe the fire had started at 1Above pub. But the pub's managers have blamed the adjacent eatery Mojo's Bistro, claiming they were being targeted as the owners of the adjacent pub are influential.
The defence lawyer prayed before the court that Bawa and Lopez should be considered witnesses in the case and their custody was not required. His clients were also ready to co-operate with the prosecution in all respects.
Public Prosecutor Sanjay Wadhwani, however, argued before the court that the two managers had knowledge of the incident and they were responsible for the death of the 4 persons.
Said Vijay Thakur, who is representing the two, "The whole building was not on fire. The BMC officers, architects and engineers had given it permission. However, the police have booked my clients under Section 304 which is wrong. There was no knowledge prior to the incident, neither this is a conspiracy and there is no common intention of my managers in this case. This was an incident and not a planned conspiracy. The police should modify the Section 304 to Section 304 (A).
"The fire occurred at Mojo Bistro. However, the police have arrested my clients just because they are poor. My clients are being made a scapegoat. The police should arrest the owners of 1Above and Mojo Bistro. Instead they have arrested my clients in an attempt to show that an investigation is being conducted and action is being taken, "alleged Thakur.
"What proof does the police have that they are involved in the incident," he added.
The accused merely said "We are innocent. We tried our best to save the lives of people who were present at 1Above.
According to Ahmad Pathan, Senior Police Inspector, NM Joshi Marg police, “The fire had occurred at Above1 and not at Mojo Bistro. We are yet to find the CCTV footage of the incident. We have asked the fire brigade department to hand over the report of the incident.’’