Nine months on, 2 arrests made, no charge sheet yet in Bhandup Dreams Mall fire

A fire broke out in Dreams Mall in Bhandup which housed Sunrise Hospital, a Covid designated hospital on its third floor, in the intervening night of March 25-26, 2021. Two people, including the fire auditor, have been arrested so far but the police is yet to file a charge sheet against them

A fire broke out in Dreams Mall in Bhandup which housed Sunrise Hospital, a Covid designated hospital on its third floor, in the intervening night of March 25-26, 2021. The fire, which raged for over 40 hours, claimed 11 lives, including patients who were on ventilator support. A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) report held hospital management and officials of Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) accountable. The fire could spread inside the hospital as none of the firefighting equipment was working on the day of the fire, the BMC report stated.

Two people, including the fire auditor, have been arrested so far for Bhandup Dream Mall fire, but the police is yet to file a charge sheet against them. (HT PHOTO)

While MFB granted fire safety compliance report on July 22, 2020, its May 2021 audit report had said that fire-fighting systems like wet riser, sprinkler pumps, booster pumps and pumps were not functioning.

In May 2021, an investigation report prepared by the BMC recommended action against MFB assistant divisional fire officer Rajendra Ghadge and the then chief fire officer SA Kale for “not following the rules and carrying out a proper inspection” of the mall. The report recommended that a criminal case be filed against the owners and management of Dreams Mall and Sunrise Hospital, and held them responsible for the incident.

The Mumbai police booked several people, including directors of Housing Development & Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) Rakesh kumar Wadhawan, Nikita Amitsingh Trehan, Sarang Wadhawan, Deepak Shirke and directors of Privilege Health Care Services Private Limited (which owns Sunrise Hospital) Amitsingh Trehan, Nikita Amitsingh Trehan and Sweetie Jain, among others, for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The directors maintained that the mall was being run by a court-appointed administrator since 2017.

The report prepared by the BMC in May 2021 had further recommended that the license of the private agency whose job was to service firefighting equipment should be cancelled by the director of the Maharashtra Fire Services, and asked the chief fire officer to file a criminal case against the company.

The report also recommended action against a banquet owner on the second floor of the mall, as he had stored 45 LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinders, despite having permission to only store two.

Two people, including the fire auditor, have been arrested so far but the police is yet to file a charge sheet against them. A bunch of five writ petitions are being heard at the Bombay High Court regarding the Bhandup mall fire.