Mumbai fire: Factory owner held for negligence, released on bail

Man who took the upper floor on rent for garment unit yet to be arrested; probe into cause still on

Police on Monday arrested the owner of a garment factory at Damu Nagar in Kandivli (East), where a fire on Sunday claimed four lives, on charges of negligence. Ravi Dhanu, 43, was later released on bail. Santosh Singh, who had taken the upper floor on rent from Dhanu, is wanted in the case.

It took 14 hours to find the bodies of the victims. (Hindustan Times)

The fire started around 4pm on Sunday and was extinguished by 7.40pm. The fire caused the building to collapse, killing four workers – Rajesh Vishwakarma, 36, Raju Vishwakarma, 30, Bhavesh Parekh, 51 and Sudama Lallan Singh, 36 – trapped inside.

It took 14 hours to find their bodies. “The fire was confined to electric wiring, installation, garment and packaging material, machinery and furniture of the three garment shops. The fire was doused soon, but finding the trapped people was a challenge,” a senior fire official said.

The cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained. “The structure did not have a fire alarm, fire extinguishers or any other fire safety measures. We will carry out a detailed investigation to check if it had the mandatory licences. We will get more information from the authorities concerned such as fire brigade and BMC,” said a police officer investigating the case.

“There was gross negligence on part of the owner,” said senior police inspector Raju Kasbe of Samta Nagar police station.