The Congress in Maharashtra on Tuesday demanded a CBI probe into the Kamala Mills Compound fire and suspension of BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta over the incident that resulted in the death of 14 people last month. A delegation of state Congress leaders met Governor Vidyasagar Rao and put forward the twin demands.

The delegation comprised Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam and senior leader Arif Mohammed Naseem Khan, among others.

Nirupam later said there had been 48 per cent rise in fire incidents in 2017 compared to 2016 due to "faulty" policies of the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) under the present commissioner. The "casual" attitude of BMC officials towards the Kamala Mills fire victims was "shameful", he said. Vikhe-Patil said "corruption" in the BMC and illegalities were responsible for the December 29 blaze and also other fire incidents in the metropolis in the past.

"The commissioner deliberately neglected what was happening (illegally in the compound). Demolition of unauthorised structures after the Kamala Mill fire was just an eyewash," Vikhe-Patil said. He said Mehta was the "culprit number 1" in the entire case and wondered why he has been entrusted with the task of heading the probe into the tragedy.

Nirupam said Shiv Sena-BJP leaders made Mehta make the statement about political pressure on him to go slow on the fire probe. "This was done to change the course of the investigation," the former Lok Sabha MP alleged. The Congress leaders demanded a CBI probe into the fire and also suspension of Mehta.