CM Kejriwal visits Mundka blaze site, orders magisterial enquiry

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs for the family of the deceased while the injured will be given Rs 50,000 as ex-gratia.

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday reached the fire incident site near Mundka metro station, and said that the government has ordered a magisterial enquiry into the incident. He was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Cabinet Minister Satyendar Jain. The Chief Minister also announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs for the family of the deceased while the injured will be given Rs 50,000 as ex-gratia.

Speaking to reporters, Kejriwal said, "I have ordered a magisterial enquiry on behalf of the Delhi government. Ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh would be given to the family of the deceased ones and Rs 50,000 to the injured ones. The two brothers have been arrested. Strict action would be taken against the guilty after the investigation."

Stating that the bodies of the deceased were not identified yet, the Chief Minister said that DNA tests would be conducted to ascertain their identities. "Bodies of the deceased were charred to the extent that many of them have not been identified yet. We have deployed help to identify the missing and the dead. We will conduct the DNA test through the FSL to ascertain identities of the mortal remains," he said. "We are awaiting the investigation to know if any officer or an agency was responsible for the incident," Kejriwal said.

A massive fire had broken out on Friday evening that left 27 people dead and 12 injured in the tragic incident. However, the blaze was brought under control, informed the fire officials. Hours after the Delhi fire tragedy came under control, the police said the commercial building that caught fire near Mundka metro station on Friday evening did not have fire NOC while also informing that the building owner is absconding. The police official said that the building owner has been identified as Manish Lakra.

"The building did not have a fire NOC. The owner of the building has been identified as Manish Lakra who lived on the top floor. Lakra is currently absconding, teams are on the job and he will be nabbed soon," DCP Sameer Sharma (Outer District) told reporters. As many as 27 people died in the fire accident so far and 12 persons are injured, police said. "A total of 27 people have died and 12 are injured. We'll take the help of the forensic team to identify the bodies. FIR has been registered. We've detained company owners. There are chances that more bodies may be recovered as the rescue operation is yet to be completed," he added.

Meanwhile, the divisional officer of the fire department also informed that there was only one staircase due to which, people could not move out of the building. "There was only one staircase and because of that people could not go out. The building did not have proper NOC (from the fire department)," said Satpal Bhardwaj, Divisional Officer, Fire Department. On preliminary enquiry, it was found that it is a four-story commercial building generally used for providing office space for companies, the police said. The fire broke on the 1st floor of the building which is an office of CCTV cameras and router manufacturing company. The owners of the company are in police custody.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Sameer Sharma said that an FIR has been registered under sections 304 (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide), 120 (Concealing design to commit offence punishable with imprisonment) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

Most of the people were present on the second floor of the four-story building when the blaze erupted on Friday evening. The fire first broke out on the first floor which housed a CCTV and router manufacturing company. The police have arrested the owners of that company, identified as Harish Goel and Varun Goel and their antecedents are being examined, the senior police official said.

Meanwhile, the owner of the building, identified as Manish Lakra who resided on the top floor, has gone absconding. It is yet to be learnt whether he was present in the building at the time of the incident. "His whereabouts are still unknown," the official said, adding searches are on to nab him. Besides the 27 victims, 12 persons have sustained burn injuries. As per latest reports, NDRF teams are still conducting a search operation at the site.

ANI