Malviya Nagar Fire: Delhi Court Remands Hotel Owner To 4-Days Police Custody

A Delhi Court on Thursday remanded Lavkesh Bajaj, owner of the hotel building in Malviya Nagar where a devastating fire killed 21 people yesterday, to four days of Police custody. 

Judicial Magistrate First Class Bhanu Pratap Singh of Saket Courts passed the order and allowed Delhi Police's request for four days of police custody.

The Court orally remarked that the arrest was legal.

The police informed Court that the staff of the hotel still needed to be examined and that the accused had only disclosed two names as of now.

Bajaj's counsel said that copy of the FIR, including grounds of arrest, was not supplied to him and that the arrest was illegal.

This was after Bajaj was arrested hours after the blaze ripped through the Flourish Stay B&B in the congested Hauz Rani area in the city.

Shortly after the incident, the Delhi Police had issued a look out circular (LOC) against Bjaja and his wife in order to trace them.

The first information report (FIR) was registered against Bajaj under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 326 (mischief by fire) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

At least 58 people were rescued and taken to hospitals, where 21 were declared dead.

As per officials, the hotel was operating without a fire NOC in a congested bylane, killing at least 21 people, some of which were African nationals, and some from Turkmenistan.

Reportedly, the building in question had approval for only six rooms but was operating more than 20 and had a single entry-exit point.