Two arrested for east Delhi fire, Government announces compensation

Survivors and relatives of victims say they lost everything in the inferno that claimed 14 lives on Sunday

Two arrested for east Delhi fire, Government announces compensation

Survivors and relatives of victims say they lost everything in the inferno that claimed 14 lives on Sunday

"We have arrested Sanjay Aggarwal (38), the contractor, and an electrician, Sher Singh. A case of causing death due to negligence against unknown persons under appropriate sections of IPC has been lodged at Nand Nagri police station of northeast district," a senior police official said.

Usual suspect
Delhi government has ordered a thorough probe into the fire incident. Police had suspected a short circuit to be the cause of fire. "The number of eunuchs present in the tent was around one," said a senior police officer.
According to the official, on Monday they took many of the representatives of the community to the spot, to identify their belongings, which had been collected.

Community centre or cremation ground? (Top) Site of incident;
grieving eunuchs outside Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital on Monday.
Fourteen people lost their lives due to the fire which broke out at a
community hall in Nand Nagri in east Delhi on Sunday, where a
congragation of eunuchs was being held. Pics/Imtiyaz Khan

On Monday, chief minister Sheila Dikshit visited the injured at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital along with health minister AK Walia. Delhi government has announced a compensation of Rs two lakh to kin of those killed and Rs 50,000 for seriously injured persons. Those who have sustained minor injuries will get Rs 10,000 each. However, survivors and relatives of victims claim that they lost their belongings and important documents in the inferno and following chaos.

Radha, 28, broke down saying, "I lost my best friend to this gory, untimely incident. Worse is that I cannot even find a trace of her as there are no details of her in the hospital or anywhere else. The hospital authorities refuse to divulge any information. I just want to know if she is dead or alive." Meanwhile Sunita, one of the relatives of a victim could not hold back her tears as she lost all her belongings, including valuables, money and jewellery.

Teenage girls charred to death
In a tragic incident, two teenage girls were burnt to death in a house in Mayur Vihar phase-III, east Delhi on Monday morning. According to police, the deceased have been identified as Nikki (17) and Shivani (16). "The incident took place at around 5 am. Nikki was sleeping beside her friend Shivani in her room and her father was sleeping along side her brother in another room, when the incident took place," said a police officer. The officer said that there was a leakage from a cylinder and it caught fire due to a spark emerging out of a stabiliser in Nikki's room. "The room was locked from inside and therefore their father who was sleeping in another room could not help the two girls. As soon as the fire broke out, Nikki's father Vasant Kumar, took his 12-year-old son in his arms and ran out of the house," added the officer. Later, a PCR call was made and around five fire tenders were rushed to the spot after which the flames were doused.

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