Rajkot (Gujarat): Rajkot Commissioner of Police Raju Bhargava was on Monday transferred two days after the gaming zone fire mishap. He will be replaced by Brijesh Kumar Jha, who is currently special police commissioner of Ahmedabad.
Also, Additional Commissioner of Police Vidhi Choudhary and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-2) Sudhirkumar Desai were transferred, according to an official notification. The three IPS officers were transferred without postings. On the other hand, Rajkot Municipal Commissioner Anand Patel, who is an IAS officer, was also transferred.
Meanwhile, three accused in the Rajkot fire case were presented in the court, which has granted 14 days remand to them. The public prosecutor, who made the strong arguments in the court, said that despite the death of 28 people, there is no guilt on the faces of the accused. The accused did not answer any of the questions of the police. The public prosecutor said that the question of how many people were working in the gaming zone was not answered.
The Palanpur Crime Branch with the help of the Rajasthan Police arrested Dhawal Bhai, an accused in the Rajkot fire accident, from Abu Road.
Earlier in the day, the Gujarat government ordered the suspension of seven officials, including two police inspectors and civic staff of Rajkot Municipal Corporation, for dereliction of duty in connection with the fire incident at a gaming zone in Rajkot, which killed at least 28 persons.
The officials have been held responsible "for their gross negligence in allowing this game zone to operate without necessary approvals," stated a government release. Notably, it has emerged the facility, where the blaze erupted on Saturday, was operated without the fire NOC (no objection certificate).
"The game zone had received permissions from the roads and buildings department. It had also submitted a proof of fire safety equipment to obtain the fire NOC which was under process and not yet completed," CP told reporters on Sunday.
The government's action of suspending the officials comes a day after Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel inspected the site where the fire erupted on Saturday and instructed the departments concerned to take strict and punitive action against those responsible for such a serious incident.
The seven suspended officials include police inspectors V R Patel, who was in charge of Rajkot taluka police station in 2023, and N I Rathod, who was holding additional charge of the licence branch of the Rajkot city police, executive engineers M R Suma and Paras Khothiya of the Roads and Buildings Department, two Rajkot Municipal Corporation staff – assistant engineer Jaydip Chaudhary and assistant town planner Gautam Joshi – and Rohit Vigora, who was in charge of the fire station on Kalavad Road.
The fire at the TRP game zone in Nana-Mava locality of Rajkot on Saturday evening killed 27 persons including children. The police have arrested two persons and registered an FIR against six partners of the game zone and another accused on various charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, officials earlier said.
The Gujarat High Court on Sunday took suo motu cognisance of the fire tragedy, terming it a prima facie "man-made disaster". The HC noted a stock of highly inflammable materials such as petrol, fibres and fibreglass sheets were stored at the facility. The state government has formed a Special Investigation Team and also announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of each deceased. The central government has also announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased person.
Meanwhile, the FSL (Forensic Science Lab) team is working day and night to identify and ensure that the bodies of those who died in the Rajkot fire tragedy are handed over to their families as soon as possible. Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghvi has reviewed the work of DNA report preparation of deceased at FSL.
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Rajkot Gaming Zone Fire: Children Among 30 Killed; Facility Ran Without NOC; HC Calls it 'Man-made Disaster' | All Updates
