Kamala Mills Fire: Owner of 1 Above pub roams free as manager jailed

BMC demolished 15 restaurants in Lower Parel including those at Raghuvanshi Mills PicAshish RajeNearly a 100 hours after the Kamala Mills blaze the BMC has broken hundreds of illegally constructed restaurants and their extensions but the police are yet to get their first break on the whereabouts of the prime accused After the owners of 1 Above went on the run the cops arrested three of their kin for shielding them but it didnrsquot amount to much The police have also arrested the pubrsquos managersThe policersquos inability to trace any of the main accused in the case has left them redfaced In comparison it took the cops just 10 hours to arrest the accused after the December 18 blaze that killed 12 at the Bhanu Farsan factory in Sakinaka As many as 14 people died after they got trapped in the fire at 1 Above a rooftop restaurant at Kamala Mills The fire was fuelled by the bamboo awning and booths that were constructed illegally at the restaurant and the emergency exit was blocked leaving several customers with no way outNear breakthroughThe NM Joshi Marg police have filed a case against the three owners of 1 Above mdash Kripesh Sanghvi Jigar Sanghvi and Abhijit Mankar mdash under sections 304 culpable homicide not amounting to murder 337 and 338 endangering life or personal safety of others along with 34 common intentionThe cops came closest to making an arrest in Kamala Mills blaze on New Yearrsquos Eve when as many as 150 policemen had stormed into a Mazgaon highrise in a bid to nab Kripesh After a threehour raid of his building however they could not find him Instead they arrested his cousin and two of his uncles for harbouring fugitives All three have since been released on bailCop speakAs of now five teams have been formed to arrest the accused but the police are still clueless regarding their whereabouts ldquoWe have no clue about the location of the accused We are trying our level best to catch themrdquo said an officer from the investigating team When contacted DCP zone III Virendra Mishra only said ldquoWe are trying our best to nab the accusedrdquoMeanwhile the police have recorded the statements of 35 people including employees and guests at 1 Above The cops have also sent blood samples of the deceased along with debris samples from the fire site to the forensic laboratory at Kalina for chemical analysisUncle gets bailKripesh Sanghvirsquos uncle Mahendra Sanghvi who was detained by the police on Sunday in the case was arrested yesterday However he was later released on bail ldquoMahendra was in touch with the accused Kripesh He not only assisted the accused but also didnrsquot allow the police officers to enter his residence during our raidrdquo said an officer Earlier the police had arrested Rakesh Sanghvi another uncle of Kripeshrsquos along with his cousin Aditya Sanghvi They too were granted bail the same day Aditya reiterated their innocence ldquoWe have not harboured the accused in fact we are being targeted by the copsrdquo he claimedBMC on warpathBMC continued its massive demolition drive for the third day on Monday tearing down 53 restaurants in Byculla E ward Ghatkopar N ward and Lower Parel Gsouth Civic officials inspected 124 establishments In Byculla demolitions were carried out at 20 restaurants with illegal extensions and in Lower Parel 15 places were razed down including rooftop area of Sheesha Lounge at Raghuvanshi Mills In Byculla BMC inspected hookah parlours and seized 50 hookah pots Staffers also seized 51 LPG cylinders stored illegally124No of restaurants inspected50No of hookah pots seized53No of places demolished on MondayCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news current affairs from Mumbai local news crime news and breaking headlines hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go