Gujarat: The Rajkot court on Monday sent three accused men to a 14-day police remand in the game zone fire incident that claimed 28 lives.
The additional judicial magistrate BP Thakar remanded three accused Yuvraj Hari Singh Solanki, Nitin Jain and Rahul Rathod in police custody for two weeks, informed Tushar Gokani, special public prosecutor (SPP).
Answering to media on Monday, Gokani said, “We told the court that the main accused are on the run, and these accused persons make evasive replies and are not cooperating with the investigating agencies”.
An FIR has been lodged against six individuals, including the owner of TRP Game Zone, Yuvraj Hari Singh Solanki, the manager Nitin Jain and others, at the Rajkot Taluka Police Station. Yuvraj Hari Singh Solanki and Rahul Rathod, both partners in Raceway Enterprise that operated the TRP game zone, along with Nitin Jain, the manager of the recreation centre, are currently under police detention.
As per the FIR among the 28 bodies recovered, 15 were males, six were females and three were children. Due to severe burns, the gender of the three bodies remains undetermined and only fragments of one person were found. Forensic experts have been assigned the daunting task of identifying the victims via DNA analysis, a process that could span up to a week. This identification is crucial for bringing solace to the bereaved families. A team of forensic specialists has reached Rajkot to gather samples from the scene.
The Gujarat government ordered the suspension of seven officials, including two police inspectors and civic staff of Rajkot Municipal Corporation, for “their gross negligence in allowing this game zone to operate without necessary approvals,” which led to the fire incident at a gaming zone in Rajkot.
Following the incident, all the gaming zones in Vadodara were inspected and temporarily closed. The police are investigating all the facets of the said documents and investigation on the matter is underway, the SPP Gokani said.
The Gujarat High Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the fire tragedy and has termed it a prima facie “man-made disaster”. The court noted that highly inflammable materials such as petrol, fibres, and fibreglass sheets were stored at the facility.
The Gujarat government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh to the family of each deceased person and Rs 50,000 for the injured. Additionally, the Central government has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased person.
