1,500-page charge sheet filed in Hauz Rani fire; B&B owner named

The owner and staff face charges including culpable homicide and negligence. The report includes witness statements, but forensic evidence is pending.

Nearly three months after a massive fire at a bed and breakfast in south Delhi’s Hauz Rani left 23 people dead, Delhi Police on Tuesday submitted a 1,500 page chargesheet in the case to a court, said investigators aware of the matter.

The charred remains of Flourish Stay B&B in Hauz Rani, where a fire on June 3 killed 23 people, including foreigners. (HT Archive)

Without giving details, deputy commissioner of police (south) Anant Mittal confirmed the development.

An officer asking not to be named said that the charge sheet has been filed against Lovkesh Bajaj, the owner of Flourish Stay B&B, manager and accountant Jay Mishra, and cook Keshav Negi under section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 326(g) (pertaining to mischief involving fire or explosive substances causing damage), 324(5) (pertaining to mischief causing damage), 125(a) and 125(b) (acts endangering the life or personal safety of others where hurt or grievous hurt is caused), and 287 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

HT has not seen the charge sheet.

On June 3, the fire broke out around 8.30am on the ground-floor where a full-fledged restaurant had been operating despite permission only to run a tea-and-snack outlet.

The B&B was permitted to operate only six rooms but was running 31 rooms across four storeys, a basement and the roof, with no fire exit. Together, these violations created conditions that turned a fire into one of Delhi’s deadliest fire disasters in recent years. The incident killed 23 people, including foreign nationals, many of whom were in Delhi for medical treatment.

The over 1,500-charge sheet, an officer said, says the building was originally a two-and-a-half-storey structure and was converted into a ground-plus-four building without permission after Bajaj purchased it in 2023. The restaurant was started on the ground floor the same year and two additional rooms were constructed on the rooftop, none of which had the requisite approvals.

In the exact sequence of events established so far, police said the fire broke out in the kitchen near an electric air fryer around 8.30am. The flames intensified after the LPG hose pipe caught fire, causing a gas leak that rapidly spread smoke through the ground, first and second floors.

Police have also mentioned that Bajaj visited the spot at the time of the incident and left within minutes and that Negi switched on the electric air fryer before attending to other work and later noticed flames near the appliance.

Witnesses told investigators that emergency calls were made between 8.15am and 8.45am, while fire tenders reached the building between 9.15am and 9.30am.

HT had reported that 20 crucial minutes were lost after the nearest fire station was unable to dispatch a fire tender because of a separate ongoing fire-control operation and a shortage of personnel.