Delhi fire tragedy: building owner and his manager arrested

The Delhi Police on Sunday arrested the owner of the building along with his manager in connection with the Anaj Mandi fire incident here in which 43 people were killed. The owner, identified as Rehan, was booked under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible mat­ter) of the Indian Penal Code, police said.

His manager has been identified as Furkan. They were both arrested from the national capital, they said. The four-storey building housed several illegal manufacturing units and was functioning without fire safety clearance, fire officials said.

According to police, during questioning it was found that Rehan had the major chunk of ownership of the building and had rented it out to others. His brothers are also being questioned as it is suspected that one of them co-owned the building.

Each floor of the building had at least two manufacturing units functioning on it and some had more than four units functioning, the police said. It has been found that one of the units manufactured wall mirrors on a large scale, one was involved in the stitching of schoolbags and one in the stitching of skull caps.

Police said they are on the lookout for those who were operating the units and had taken the place on rent. They will also ascertain whether the units had proper clearance and licenses from the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC).

The massive blaze ripped through the four-storey building in congested Anaj Mandi area in Filmistan locality on Sunday morning killing 43 people and injuring many others.

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