Mumbai: Rajendra Patil, the station officer with the Worli fire brigade division, deliberately submitted a wrong picture of Mojo’s Bistro to give an impression that the pub was complying with fire safety norms, the police said on Monday.
Mr. Patil was arrested on Saturday night along with Ravi Bhandari, the co-owner of Kamala Mills, and Utkarsh Pande, who supplied hookahs to Mojo’s.
Mr. Patil is the first government servant to be arrested in the case.
Mr. Pande was arrested for allegedly serving hookahs despite knowing Mojo’s did not have a licence for it, while Mr. Bhandari was found responsible for allowing illegal extensions and fire safety violations in the Kamala Mills compound.
Investigating officers said Mr. Patil had, a few days before the fire broke out in the early hours of December 29, submitted a report to his superiors. “Mr. Patil, with his report, attached a picture which showed that the terrace of Mojo’s was open. Investigations revealed that the picture was an old one, while, the terrace was in fact covered,” Additional Commissioner of Police (central region) S. Jayakumar said.
The plastic covering over the terrace caught fire due to embers of hookahs being served illegally at Mojo's. It engulfed 1Above next to it, killing 14 of its patrons.
Inquiries are under way to find out if any other fire or civic officer willfully turned a blind eye to the violations at Mojo’s.
