Kamala Mills fire: Mumbai Police announce Rs 1 lakh reward for information on accused

Police on Monday announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh to anyone who would provide information about the three persons accused in Kamala Mills fire incident.

File photo

MUMBAI: Police on Monday announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh to anyone who would provide information about the owners of '1 Above' pub accused in Kamala Mills fire incident.

Identified as Kripesh Mansukhlal Sanghvi, Jigar Sanghvi and Abhijeet Mankar, the pub owners have been absconding ever since the mishap took place.

On the night of December 28, as many as 14 people including 11 women were killed in a massive fire that engulfed Kamala Mills complex in Maharashtra's Mumbai. Twenty-three others were also injured in the mishap.

The fire was reported around 12.30 am from a rooftop restaurant in The Kamla Trade House. It quickly spread to another pub and a restaurant in the vicinity. Over 200 people on the premises were trapped in the fire.

Following the incident, an offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under sections 304, 337, 338, 34 of the Indian Penal Code was registered against the three pub owners at the NM Joshi Marg police station.

A lookout notice against the three accused was issued a day after the horrifying incident.

More than 12 fire tenders were rushed to fight the blaze which was brought under control around 6.30 am. Doctors had claimed that most of the people died due to suffocation.

On December 30, taking stock of the situation, the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had ordered the BMC Commissioner to conduct an inquiry into the incident.

The BMC suspended five people in connection with the mishap. BMC said that they had sent a few notices to the joints at the Kamala Mills compound for violation of norms.

Those suspended were attached to the fire brigade and the G South Ward. The suspended officials include an assistant divisional fire officer, while the remaining four are from the ward office including engineers and health officials.