MD, fire officer, hookah supplier remanded to police custody till Jan 25

Ravi Surajmal Bhandari, a Director of Kamala mills, station officer Rajendra Baban Patil, and Utkarsh Vinod Pandey, a supplier of hookah at Mojo’s Bistro were produced at Bhoiwada holiday court and remanded to police custody uptil January 25.

They were booked and arrested on Saturday for culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the first First Information Report(FIR) along with the other accused Jigar Sanghvi, Kripesh Sanghvi and Abhijit Mankar, owners of 1Above, Lisbon Lopez and Kevin Bawa,managers of 1Above as well as Yug Pathak and Yug Tuli, owners of Mojo’s Bistro who have been arrested by the police.

They were booked after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta submitted his report to the Chief Minister on Thursday. Municipal commissioner A joy Mehta's probe report into the Kamala mills fire tragedy has revealed that the authorities concerned, from the building proposal department (BPD) to the Fire Brigade, had not conducted spot inspections for alterations before granting permissions to 1 Above pub and Mojo's Bistro. The Fire Brigade's report had concluded that flying embers from lighted charcoal used in the hookah at Mojo's Bistro caused to the fire.

According to Public Prosecutor, Sanjay Wadhwane,“Patil had given the NOC for 1Above and Mojo’s Bistro without carrying out a proper site inspection. Patil had knowledge about the irregularities at the pub. He had issued the NOC to 1 Above on December 23 and attached photographs of the terrace where the covering with tarpaulin sheds and bamboo cannot be seen.It was the bamboo sheds set up by both restaurants at Kamala mills that led to the flames. Bhandari had leased out the premises of the pubs in violation to the policy of mill land redevelopment."

According to investigating officer in this case,“We have sought the custody of the three accused for further questioning. If there are any more officials who are involved in granting permissions to the pubs, they will be booked and arrested too. During investigation, we will also ascertain the monetary benefits given to Patil.”

The trio were booked after BMC chief Ajoy Mehta submitted his report to the CM on Thursday