Mumbai blaze: Two managers in police custody till January 9

A Mumbai magistrate on Monday granted police custody till January 9 two two managers of a pub who were nabbed in connection with the December 29 blaze in the Kamala Mills Compound which killed 14 and injured another 55 here.

Late on Sunday night, police detained the two managers of 1Above pub, Kevin Bawa, 35, and Lisbon Lopez, 34, and then arrested them early on Monday.

The two have been booked under the stringent IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), Section 337 (causing hurt by endangering life or personal safety) and Section 34 (acts done by several in furtherance of common intention).

According to investigators, Bawa and Lopez allegedly fled from the spot after the fire broke out, instead of guiding the panic-stricken patrons to safety or emergency exits, which could have prevented or reduced the number of casualties.

Their arrests came hours after the police on Sunday nabbed two relatives of the absconding owners of 1Above pub for allegedly giving shelter to them and preventing their arrest.

They are Rakesh Sanghvi, 46, and his son Aditya, 26, who were later released on bail of Rs 25,000 each by a magistrate.

Rakesh Sanghvi is the uncle of Kripesh Sanghvi and Jigar Sanghvi, the owner-partners of 1Above pub. Police are on the lookout for other partner-owners and associated.

Hours after the fire on Friday, Mumbai Police filed complaints against the owners of The Mojo Bistro and 1Above charging them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

According to Additional Police Commissioner (Central) S. Jaykumar, Rakesh Sanghvi and son Aditya live on the 16th floor of the same building in which the wanted Kripesh owns a flat and were arrested for giving him shelter after the fire tragedy.

--IANS

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