The police on Sunday arrested two persons for allegedly providing shelter to the owners of the 1 Above pub, who have been booked following Friday’s devastating fire that killed 14 people.
After the blaze at the upscale pub in the Kamala Mills compound, the police had booked owners Hitesh Sanghvi and Jigar Sanghvi, and co-owner Abhijeet Manka and others under various charges.
An uncle of the Sanghvi brothers’, Rakesh Sanghvi, and cousin Aditya Sanghvi were arrested while a search was on for another relative Mahendra Sanghvi, according to Avinash Shingthe, senior police inspector, Byculla.
They were produced at a court in Bhoiwada and granted bail on a bond of ₹25,000 each, a senior police official said.
Officials said 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.
Remove illegal structure
Meanwhile, continuing its drive to raze unauthorised structures of restaurants, hotels and other food joints for the third day, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) turned down 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 NM Joshi Marg police, probing the case, recorded the statements of 27 witnesses 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. The statement also blamed Mojo’s Bistro on the floor below for not having an emergency exit, leading to overcrowding of the exits of 1 Above.
