Ghaziabad factory fire: Deceased owner booked, unit had no fire NOC

Ghaziabad: The 40-year-old owner of the factory, gutted in Ghaziabad’s Sahibabad area late Thursday, succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Delhi on Friday

Ghaziabad: The 40-year-old owner of the factory, gutted in Ghaziabad’s Sahibabad area late Thursday, succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Delhi on Friday. The Ghaziabad police, meanwhile, said they have booked the owner based on a complaint by the family members of two of the 14 injured in the fire.

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The 14 injured persons, which included a 16-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy, had sustained severe burn injuries and were rushed to private hospitals in Ghaziabad, from where they were referred to hospitals in Delhi, the police said.

“The owner was identified as Kunal Behl, a resident of Indirapuram. He had sustained severe burn injuries. He succumbed at a hospital in Delhi Friday morning. Family members of two injured persons have submitted a police complaint, on the basis of which we registered an FIR naming Behl. It is alleged that Behl deliberately added extra chemicals in the machine which led to an explosion and caused a blaze,” said Gyanendra Kumar Singh, superintendent of police (city 2), Ghaziabad.

The incident took place in the Sahibabad Site IV Industrial Area.

The factory allegedly did not have any no-objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department, fire officials said Friday.

“No fire NOC had been taken for the factory and only primary fire-fighting equipment, such as fire extinguishers, were available at the site. The cause of the fire was some explosion in the chemical storage at the ground floor,” said Sunil Kumar Singh, chief fire officer.

The FIR, filed at Link Road police station, was lodged under IPC section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide). A copy of the FIR was made available to the media by the Ghaziabad police.

The complainant in the case is Rohit Kumar, 20, who is from Sitapur and works at another factory in the industrial area. As per the copy of the FIR, the complaint was drafted by one Mohammad Saleem.

When contacted, Rohit said that two of his brothers, Mohit Kumar, 18, and Vishwa Nath, 22, suffered severe burn injuries during the incident.

“They both worked at the factory. I had come to my rented accommodation at Maharajpur when I got a call on my mobile. My brother Mohit was on the phone and he asked me to come fast for help and also told me about the fire. I rushed to the spot with two of my neighbours. There, without waiting for ambulances, I sat both of my brothers in the police van and rushed them to hospital,” Rohit said.

He added that his brothers had been working with the factory for the past two-three years and received a monthly salary of about ₹10,000 each.

“Since I was not at the factory, I cannot say what actually caused the fire. It is likely that it resulted due to some chemical used in the factory. I am yet to get a copy of the FIR,” he said Friday evening, when asked about the allegations levelled in the FIR.

When asked about the allegations in the FIR, the SP said: “All allegations levelled in the FIR will be inquired during the course of investigation.”