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Mundka fire tragedy: Cops see insurance scam, owners deny
Officers said the five accused in the case were illegally carrying out commercial activities in the building despite being aware of previous fire incidents
New DelhiThe devastating Mundka building fire that claimed the lives of 27 people and left 44 others injured on May 13 last year was not “spontaneous” but “a tragedy waiting to happen”, according to case documents and police officers associated with the case, with both claiming that it was a case of criminal conspiracy to claim insurance money.
The five accused in the case — three owners of the building and two brothers who had taken three floors on rent — were illegally carrying out commercial activities in the building despite being aware of previous fire incidents due to shoddy wiring, and did not make adequate fire safety arrangements, the officers said. In the 4000-page charge sheet filed before a Delhi court on August 8 last year, the investigating team concluded that “all alleged persons in conspiracy with each other intentionally committed the crime” and “the facts, circumstances, and sequence of incidents prove a conspiracy”.
In the charge sheet, which HT has seen, the investigating team alleged that Harish Goyal and his brother Varun Goyal, owners of the three companies that dealt in CCTV cameras and 4G SIM routers, got two of their companies insured for ₹10 crore with United India Insurance Company, on March 9, 2022, by concealing what an inspection of the building conducted on February 28, 2022 by a surveyor had revealed.
The surveyor, in their report, mentioned several discrepancies — the availability of only two fire extinguishers, no smoke detector, and no fire alarms, said a police officer, quoting the charge sheet.
“As several discrepancies were found on their part, the applicants (Harish and Varun) intentionally and with some malafide intentions did not produce or submit the inspection report before the insurance company and still got their companies insured...,” said the officer. According to the police, the two companies Cofe Impex Pvt Ltd and SL Technologies India were insured for ₹6 crore in total for fire. The insured period was between March 9, 2022 and March 8, 2023.
To corroborate the conspiracy angle, the investigating team said that within 24 hours of the fire, a request for insurance claims was sent (on May 14, 2022) to the insurance company from the email ID of Harish Goyal. Moreover, the brothers also approached court for allowing the insurance surveyor to visit the scene of fire.
“All circumstances lead to a conspiracy hatched by Harish and Varun,” the investigating team said in the charge sheet.
Advocate Varun Gupta, who is representing the Goyals, rejected the allegations. Gupta said the owners of the companies raised the insurance amount in March, as they had to do it to fulfil the criteria for increasing their cash credit limit. Also, the insurance was for the goods and not for the building or the people in it.
“Firstly, deliberate inferno incidents for getting insurance claims happen usually at night or in the wee hours, and people are not present. But in our case, the fire tragedy happened during the daytime when many people, including our clients, were themselves present and trapped. Secondly, why would the two brothers criminally conspire to kill their own father... Moreover, my clients themselves suffered burns,” said Gupta. The Goyals were booked under 10 sections of IPC, including 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 420, 467, 468, 471 (cheating and forgery), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention).
Asked why they levelled cheating and forgery charges, investigators said that the number of employees in the two companies was much more than what was registered with the government. Their third company I-Clear technologies Pvt Ltd was not registered with ESIC.
On allegations of tampering with employee records, Gupta said, “The administration work for the companies was handled by the brothers’ father Amar Nath Goyal, who was among the 27 dead people. Also, the family of Geeta Chauhan has got compensation from the ESIC.”
Meanwhile, alleging wrongdoing and negligence on the part of three owners of the building — Manish Lakra, his wife Sunita Lakra and mother Sushila Lakra — investigators said the building was used for commercial activities though it was in a non-conforming area, and did not have regular factory licence or a no-objection certificate from the fire department, and no appropriate fire safety arrangements. They were also booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempt to commit culpable homicide, criminal conspiracy, and common intention.
Some employees told investigators about short-circuits in the past that were overlooked, officers said. “There was a single staircase in the building and the entry-exit gate in the working area was too tight to enter,” the second officer added.
Apart from the Goyals who were arrested on May 14, 2022, Manish Lakra was arrested on May 15. Police said Sunita Lakra and Sushila Lakra were charged but not arrested. The Goyals were granted default bail on March 4 this year, on account of a delay in charge sheet. Fourteen days later, Manish also got a default bail on the same grounds.
Senior officers said the case is being investigated further to establish the connivance of insurance agents, employees of the accused, and others. A supplementary charge sheet will be filed soon, they added.
