Mumbai pub tragedy: FIRs lodged, 'look-out notices' for absconders
Mumbai: Cracking the whip, the Mumbai police on Saturday lodged three new FIRs against various pub owners and issued a lookout notice for the absconders in wake of the blaze in Kamala Mills Compound which left 14 dead and 55 injured, an official said.
Police have also set up five teams to trace the owners of 1Above pub, Hitesh Sanghvi, his brother Jigar Sanghvi and partner Abhijit Manka, and Yug Pathak, a co-owner of of The Mojos Bistro, who is the son of a retired IPS officer.
Simultaneously, police have issued "look-out notice" to prevent them from leaving the country, while police teams have gone to Pune and other cities to hunt for them, the official said.
Additionally, following a complaint by the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) under the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act (MRTP), police have lodged a FIR against the owner of Kamala Mills, Ramesh Govani and others who are still not traceable.
In an action-packed day, teams of the BMC demolition squads swooped down on scores of hotels, restaurants, pubs, eateries and other places where people are likely to converge for New Year Eve parties with hammers and crowbars to raze illegal structures.
In what is billed as the single biggest demolitions in a day, several illegal constructions were razed at major locations within the Kamala Mills Compound and the adjacent Raghuvanshi Mills and Phoenix Mills complexes, and other places in the city and suburbs.
According to a BMC official, who declined to be named, Saturday's mega-demolition drive covered around 200 locations across Mumbai, but largely concentrated in Lower Parel-Mahalaxmi areas.
The demolition squads targeted illegal extensions to premises, decorative arches and metal grilles inside or outside, double-triple or revolving doors, raised entrances/exits, ornamental fixtures and fittings, massive flower pots or plants, unauthorized temporary roofs, walls, partitions, any external/internal obstacles to free movements, etc, which could prove to be a safety hazard in case of any emergency like Friday's fire.
The erstwhile 50-plus textile mills which used to churn out lakhs of metres of cotton fabrics daily, went silent after the Great Bombay Textile strike of 1982. Spread across prime real estate of more than 500 acres in south-central Mumbai, they have now been transformed into glittering corporate, media, communications, glamour and eating hubs, besides some of the tallest and most expensive residential and commercial towers in the vicinity.
BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta has already set up 25 teams which will inspect implementation of safety norms at all hotels, restaurants, bars, pubs, malls in the sprawling Kamala Mills Compound and other surrounding areas in Lower Parel.
In fact, the preliminary inspection by the BMC on Friday detected an unauthorized partition wall and two rooms, besides an illegal plastic roof supported with bamboos which was reduced to ashes in the early Friday morning blaze.
Amidst a public uproar with the fire incident figuring in Parliament on Friday, the BMC suspended five officials including a fire brigade officer, hours after the conflagration.
Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam on Saturday however termed the ongoing demolitions as "a mere eyewash" in view of the public anger and demanded the suspension of the BMC commissioner for the lapses over which he is presiding.
Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Radhakrisha Vikhe-Patil, who demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, called for removal of Mehta and holding him responsible for Friday's tragedy.
Incidentally, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activist Mangesh Kashalkar, a social activist Ilyas Ejaz Khan and RTI activist Anil Galgali said they have lodged several complaints against the illegalities perpetrated in the commercial establishments in Lower Parel-Mahalaxmi area, but the BMC officials ignored them.
Mumbai police went into high security mode on Saturday with stringent bandobast, catching all those violating traffic rules, carrying random checking of vehicles, setting up roadblocks, detecting inebriated drivers and other offences in preparation for the New Year's Eve celebrations on Sunday.
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London, Nov 22: A bomb disposal squad deployed as a “precaution” to the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport concluded an investigation into a "security incident" on Friday after making a “suspect package” safe.
The South Terminal of Gatwick Airport, the UK's second busiest airport after Heathrow, which was briefly shut owing to the incident reopened following the incident.
The Gatwick is around 45 km south of London.
Two people detained during the enquiries have since been allowed to continue their journey as the airport was opened.
“Police have concluded their investigation into a report of a suspect package at Gatwick Airport. Officers from the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team made the package safe, and the airport has been handed back to its operator,” Sussex Police said in an updated statement.
“Two people detained while enquiries were ongoing have subsequently been allowed to continue their journeys. There will remain an increased police presence in the area to assist with passengers accessing the South Terminal for onward travel,” the statement added.
Earlier on Friday, the incident caused severe disruption at the busy airport’s South Terminal, while the North Terminal of Gatwick Airport remained unaffected.
“Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8.20 am on Friday (November 22) following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage,” a Sussex Police statement said.
“To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with. As a precaution, an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team is being deployed to the airport. This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the South Terminal have been closed. We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible,” it said.
Footage on social media taken outside the airport showed crowds of frustrated travellers being moved away from the terminal building.
Gatwick said it was working hard to resolve the issue.
“A large part of the South Terminal has been evacuated as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident," the airport said in a social media post.
“Passengers will not be able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing. The safety and security of our passengers and staff remain our top priority. We are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
Train and bus services that serve the airport were also impacted while the police carried out their inquiries.
In an unrelated incident in south London on Friday morning, the US Embassy area in Nine Elms by the River Thames was the scene of a controlled explosion by Scotland Yard dealing with what they believe may have been a “hoax device”.
“We can confirm the 'loud bang' reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers,” the Metropolitan Police said in a post on X.
“Initial indications are that the item was a hoax device. An investigation will now follow. Some cordons will remain in place for the time being but the majority of the police response will now be stood down,” it added.
