Two relatives of 1 Above owners held, granted bail

Mumbai: The Byculla police on Sunday arrested two relatives and booked a cousin of Ritesh and Jigar Sanghvi, two of the three absconding owners of Kamala Mills’ 1 Above pub who were booked after a fire at their establishment claimed 14 lives on Friday morning.

The trio was granted bail within hours. The development came in the wake of the Byculla police station registering a case against the trio for allegedly shielding the accused.

According to Avinash Shingate, senior police inspector of Byculla police station, Rakesh Sanghvi and Mahendra Sanghvi were arrested on Sunday from their Mazgaon residence, while the accused’s cousin Aditya Sanghvi was booked. The case was registered under Section 216 of the Indian Penal Code, which pertains to harbouring an offender who has escaped from custody or whose apprehension has been ordered.

Stating that he had no connection with the restaurant, Aditya Sanghvi told The Asian Age, “I am a relative of the owners of 1 Above… I don’t know why we were arrested. I have no idea where the owners are.”

On Friday, the NM Joshi police detained two other close relatives of the 1 Above owners for questioning over the fire.

The next day, the police issued a lookout notice against Ritesh and Jigar Sanghvi and the third co-owner, Abhijeet Mankar.