The Telegraph: Mumbai: Tuesday, January 02, 2018.
Police on
Monday arrested two managers of the upscale 1 Above pub, where a fire claimed
14 lives last week, following allegations that they fled without helping the
guests who had gathered at the rooftop joint.
The New
Year's Day arrests took place even as the city's civic body pressed ahead with
the crackdown it had launched on illegal constructions at hotels, restaurants
and commercial establishments since the December 29 blaze.
The main accused
in the case - the pub's owners - are absconding.
The fire that
swept through the pub, located at the Kamala Mills compound in the Lower Parel
area, also left 21 people injured.
A police
official said the managers Gibson Lopez, 34, and Kevin Bawa, 35, were arrested
from NM Joshi Marg police station, adding that both were present when the fire
broke out in the early hours of Friday, but had fled without helping the
guests.
"We have
arrested both the managers," senior police inspector Ahmad Pathan said.
The two have
been booked under penal code sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to
murder), 337 (causing hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety of
others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety
of others) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common
intention), he added.
The jail term
for culpable homicide not amounting to murder can extend up to 10 years or even
life.
Lopez and
Bawa were produced in a local court, which sent them to police custody till
January 9.
The pub's
owners, Hitesh Sanghvi and Jigar Sanghvi, co-owner Abhijeet Manka and others
have already been booked on various charges, including culpable homicide not
amounting to murder.
On Sunday,
the police had arrested two persons accused of providing shelter to the owners.
Rakesh Sanghvi, an uncle of the Sanghvi brothers, and cousin Aditya Sanghvi
were arrested while a search was on for another relative, Mahendra Sanghvi,
according to Avinash Shingthe, senior police inspector, Byculla.
Rakesh and
Aditya were later produced before a court in Bhoiwada, which granted them bail
on a bond of Rs 25,000 each.
A senior
civic official said demolition squads were razing illegal alterations and
constructions in the Todi Mill and Raghuvanshi Mills areas since Monday
morning, on the directions of Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta.
The official
said several structures had been razed in the Kamala Mills compound area over
the past three days and added that demolition drives would be conducted
regularly to keep a check on unauthorised constructions.
The BMC has
also asked owners of commercial establishments to assess, on their own, if
their premises followed all norms related to fire safety.
Municipal
commissioner Ajoy Mehta blamed a nexus between "a very small percentage of
corrupt officials" and "professional complainants" for the
illegal eateries. They "together are trying to ensure that the permissions
are given in a particular way or are subverted", he said.
Asked if he
meant RTI activists, Mehta said: "The RTI Act was always an instrument for
people's good and I believe that it is one of the best things that could have
happened. But yes, there are people who misuse the law. And this is what I call
a professional complainant," he said. PTI
.JPG)
.JPG)
