Kamala Mills fire: Relatives of ‘1 Above’ pub owners granted bail

Mumbai: The police on Monday arrested two persons for allegedly providing shelter to the '1 Above' pub owners, who were booked following a devastating fire at their establishment which killed 14 people on Friday.

They were produced later before a court in Bhoiwada which granted them bail on a bond of Rs 25,000 each, a senior police official said.

After the blaze at the upscale pub in the Kamala Mills compound in Mumbai in the early hours of December 29, the police had booked its owners Hitesh Sanghvi and Jigar Sanghvi, another co-owner Abhijeet Manka and others under various charges including culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

They had on Sunday issued lookout notices against the Sanghvi brothers who are yet to be arrested.

Sanghvi brothers' uncle Rakesh Sanghvi and cousin Aditya Sanghvi were arrested on Monday while a search was on for another relative Mahendra Sanghvi, according to Avinash Shingthe, Senior Police Inspector, Byculla.

Officials said that the relatives, all residents of Mazgaon area in Byculla, were booked under IPC section 216 which pertains to harbouring an offender who has escaped from custody or whose apprehension has been ordered.

Continuing its drive to raze unauthorised structures of restaurants, hotels and other food joints for the third day, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to adopt a strict stand and not heed to requests by pubs and hotel owners to suspend the exercise in view of New Year celebrations.

"We want to remove every unauthorised structure at restaurants, pubs, malls, food joints, other eateries and hotels. We are asking managers or owners of such properties to remove it on their own or else we will bring it down," BMC spokesperson Ram Dotonde said.

Meanwhile, the N M Joshi Marg police, probing the fire case, recorded the statements of 27 eyewitnesses and said they were looking for more witnesses.

On Friday, the police had booked the Sanghvi brothers, Manka and others, under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others).

However, the pub had in a statement claimed that it had all the necessary approvals and safety norms in place. It had also blamed Mojo's Bistro on the floor below for not having an emergency exit, leading to overcrowding of the exits of '1 Above'.

The massive fire that swept through the pub left 14 people dead and 21 injured. Among those killed was Khushbu Bansali who was celebrating her 29th birthday.