Rajkot: In the aftermath of the devastating fire tragedy at a gaming zone in Rajkot, Gujarat, which claimed the lives of 27 people, the state government has taken decisive action. On Monday, seven officials, including two police inspectors and civic staff members of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation, faced suspension for alleged dereliction of duty.
Among those suspended are Jaideep Chaudhary, assistant engineer of the town planning department, Gautam Joshi, assistant town planner, HR Suma, deputy executive engineer of the Roads and Buildings department, Parsbhai M Kothiya, assistant engineer of the Road and Building Department, Rohit Vigora, Station Officer of Fire and Emergency Services, along with police inspectors VR Patel and NI Rathod.
The suspended officials are accused of allowing the game zone to operate without necessary approvals, according to a government release. Meanwhile, a team from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) conducted an investigation at the site of the fire on Monday.
The FSL team was seen collecting samples from the charred debris of the building. The team is working with the police to collect all the scientific evidence so that the police can complete the investigation as soon as possible and file a charge sheet in the case.
Additionally, an FIR has been lodged against six individuals, including TRP Game Zone owner Yuvraj Hari Singh Solanki and manager Nitin Jain, at the Rajkot Taluka Police Station. Both the owner and the manager of the gaming zone have been arrested and produced in court.
“A case under IPC sections 304 (for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (for attempt to commit culpable homicide), 337 (for causing hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (for causing grievous hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 114 (for abettor present when the offense is committed) has been registered against six people, out of which two are in custody,” Rajkot Police Commissioner Raju Bhargava said in a press conference on Sunday.
The police said that a nine-member SIT has been formed to investigate the case, and special police teams are working to arrest other accused. Regarding the cause of the incident, the police said that some fabrication work was taking place in the game zone and inflammable materials were kept there.
“According to the preliminary investigation, some fabrication work was happening there. There were many inflammable materials, and the fire occurred possibly because of welding activity,” the police commissioner said.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, along with Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi, inspected the Rajkot TRP gaming zone on Sunday. The duo also met the injured at Rajkot’s Giriraj Hospital. Following the incident, all the gaming zones in Vadodara were inspected and temporarily shut down.
(With ANI Inputs)
