Rajkot fire: Game zone co-owner held, arrests in case rise to 10
Rajkot (PTI): Police have arrested a co-owner of the Rajkot game zone, where a fire claimed 27 lives last month, taking the number of arrests in the case to ten, an official said on Friday.
Ashoksinh Jadeja, one of the six owners of the TRP game zone, surrendered before the police on Thursday evening, the official said.
Jadeja, who owns the land on which the game zone had come up, had been absconding after a fire devastated the recreation facility on May 25 in Gujarat's Rajkot city.
Rajkot Police Commissioner Brajesh Kumar Jha confirmed on Friday that Jadeja is in the custody of the crime branch after his surrender.
Earlier, police had arrested five co-owners and a manager of the game zone. They also took into custody four government officials, including Rajkot's Town Planning Officer (TPO) M D Sagathia, assistant TPOs Mukesh Makwana and Gautam Joshi, and former station officer of Kalavad Road fire station Rohit Vigora.
During the probe, it was confirmed that one of the co-owners, Prakash Hiran who was named in the FIR and missing since the tragedy, had died in the deadly fire as he was inside the facility when it was gutted.
CCTV camera footage showed the fire started after sparks fell on thermocol (polystrene) sheets during welding work on the ground floor. Though workers present there tried to douse the fire with fire extinguishers, it spread quickly and eventually engulfed the game zone.
According to the police, the game zone was being operated without any no objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation.
Several game zones and other recreation hubs were sealed across the state after the Rajkot incident and FIRs were also filed against the owners for running such facilities without any permissions.
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Cong functionary arrested on POCSO charges
Bengaluru (PTI): A Congress functionary has been arrested on POCSO charges for alleged inappropriate behaviour with a 16-year-old minor girl.
The 40-year-old complainant has also accused the Congress functionary Anand P of assault, criminal intimidation and coercion, police said.
According to the FIR, Anand allegedly used to visit his house and developed an illicit relationship with his wife.
When he questioned their relationship, his wife and Anand allegedly assaulted him and attempted to kill him. The complaint also alleges repeated acts of violence against the children, police said.
The accused and the complainant’s wife allegedly assaulted the children multiple times with sticks and stabbed them with a knife, causing bleeding injuries, according to the FIR.
The complainant claimed to possess photographic evidence of the incidents, and he alleged inappropriate behaviour by Anand towards his minor daughter.
“Anand has also inappropriately touched my 16-year-old daughter and indecently spoken to her,” the FIR quoted him as saying.
Police said the complaint further accused Anand P of criminal intimidation and coercion in property matters.
Police said a case has been registered based on the complaint, and further investigation is underway.
