Rajkot fire: FIR against 6 partners, facility didn't have fire NOC, say cops

The police have registered an FIR against six partners of a game zone in Gujarats Rajkot city on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and arrested two persons after a fire there killed 27 persons officials said on SundayThe local police in November 2023 granted a booking license to the gaming zone which was renewed for the period from January 1 to December 31 2024 Rajkot Police Commissioner Raju Bhargava told reportersThe game zone had received permissions from the roads and buildings department It had also submitted a proof of fire safety equipment to obtain the fire NOC which was under process and not yet completed the official saidThe game zone had fire safety equipment but action taken to control the blaze was not sufficient leading to the tragedy on Saturday he saidTwenty seven persons including four children were killed and three others injured in the massive fire that swept through the TRP game zone in the Nana Mava locality teeming with people who were enjoying a summer vacation outing on Saturday evening officials earlier saidAs per the FIR the accused persons erected a 50metre wide and 60metre long structure with the height of around twothree storey building using metal sheet fabrication to create a game zoneThey did not have a proper fire fighting equipment and had not obtained the noobjection certificate NOC from the local fire department thereby endangering the lives of people despite knowing that a blaze in such a structure could cause deaths and injuries said the FIRYuvrajsinh Solanki a partner in the Raceway Enterprise which operated the TRP game zone and the entertainment facilitys manager Nitin Jain have so far been arrested Rajkot Deputy Commissioner of Police crime Parthrajsinh Gohil saidThe six persons against whom the case was registered by the Rajkot taluka police in the wee hours of Sunday are Dhaval Corporation proprietor Dhaval Thakkar Raceway Enterprise partners Ashoksinh Jadeja Kiritsinh Jadeja Prakashchand Hiran Yuvrajsinh Solanki and Rahul Rathod as per the FIRThe case was registered against six identified persons and others whose names are revealed during the investigation it saidThe accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 304 culpable homicide not amounting to murder 308 attempt to commit culpable homicide 337 causing hurt by an act that endangers life or personal safety of others 338 causing grievous hurt to a person by doing an act that endangers their life or personal safety and 114 someone present when offence is committed as per the FIRThe name of Nitin Jain the game zones manager came up during the investigation Gohil saidFour different teams of the crime branch have been formed to nab the four absconding accused Bhargava saidThe investigation in the case has been handed over to the crime branch and a Special Investigation Team SIT of the Rajkot police headed by Joint Additional Commissioner of Police Vidhi Chaudhary he saidNotably the Gujarat government has also formed a fivemember SIT headed by state Additional Director General of Police Subhash Trivedi to investigate the incidentBhargava said All our efforts will be to complete the investigation and file a chargesheet at the earliest For this a forensic science laboratory FSL team has reached here from Gandhinagar and all other required action will be takenWe have also asked the state government to appoint a special public prosecutorChief Minister Bhupendra Patel visited the incident site on Sunday morning and a hospital where the injured persons were admittedThe CM has announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50000 to each injuredThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever