PG fire incident: Chandigarh police arrest man who runs the facility

Chandigarh police on Sunday arrested the man who runs the paying guest accommodation in Sector 32 here, a day after a fire at the premises claimed the lives of three young women, who were all students. A senior police official said the owner of the house where the fire broke had sub-let it to Nitish Bansal and another person, who were running the PG facility, which was allegedly violating fire safety norms and other rules.

"Nitish Bansal has been arrested in the case," Inspector Baldev Kumar, Station House Officer of Sector 34 police station, said. Bansal, his partner and the house owner have been booked by the police under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including those relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, act endangering life of others and disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant.

"Further investigations are on and we will arrest other accused too," the SHO added. Deputy Commissioner Mandeep Singh Brar ordered an inquiry into the fire incident and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (South) has been directed to conduct a thorough probe and submit a report at the earliest.

Official sources said authorities were planning to launch a big drive to check such PGs violating rules and those who were functioning without registering themselves with the concerned authorities. The fire claimed the lives of Pakshi (from Kotkapura, Punjab), Riya (Kapurthala, Punjab) and Muskan (Hisar, Haryana), all aged between 19-22, police had earlier said.

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