Look out circular issued against Hotel Aprit Palace owners: Crime Branch

Probing the Hotel Arpit Palace fire in which 17 people were killed, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police here on Thursday issued a look out circular against its owners who have been absconding after the incident, said a senior Crime Branch officer. "Multiple teams of the Crime Branch are raiding all possible hideouts of the hotel owners -- brothers Rakesh Goel and Shardendu Goel -- in Goa, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. They are untraceable till now. We have issued a look out circular to arrest them," Additional Commissioner of Police Rajiv Ranjan told IANS.

The look out circular is an alert to the immigration officers, informing them that the persons are wanted by the police. Apart from international and domestic airports, it may be used even at sea ports, said an officer who is part of the investigation. "Phones of Rakesh and Shardendu are switched off. Their last location was traced near Karol Bagh. The police teams also searched their home in the Bank Street in Karol Bagh and tried to take possession of their passports but they could not find it. The police team also failed to obtain their passport numbers," the officer said.

The police suspect they have fled from the country, but are making all efforts to trace them. "The intelligence officials at the Nepal border have also been alerted," he said. "During investigations, it was found both the brothers were aware that use of inflammable materials in the building could endanger the lives of guests. There was no panic alarm; unauthorised kitchens were operating; and inflammable materials like rubber, ply-board and plastic were used for decoration of corridors, gallery and lobby. There was no proper signage to guide the guests to the emergency exit," the officer said.

The FIR accessed by IANS, filed on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Shri Narayan, said: "Most victims died after inhaling smoke. The victims staying on the first to fourth floors could not escape find their way out as a thick black smoke engulfed the entire area when they woke up after the fire broke out. There was no ventilation," the officer added. (Sanjeev Pal can be contacted at sanjeev.p@ians.in)

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