The Mumbai Kamala Mills fire had taken the lives of 14 people, injured many; with its managers under arrest but the owners still absconding.
In light of the Mumbai Fire Department’s report on the Kamala Mills fire, the Mumbai Police on Saturday arrested Yug K Pathak, the owner of Mojo’s Bistro for culpable homicide. The police are also questioning one of the managers of the resto-bar. The development comes after the police received the fire department’s investigation report on Saturday. Senior officers said they will rely on the report submitted by the fire department – which stated that the fire broke out at Mojo’s Bistro.
Officials from the N M Joshi Marg police station arrested Pathak. “As of now, we have arrested Pathak, while his partner Tulli has been summoned as he is also wanted in the case,” senior police inspector, attached to the NM Joshi Marg police station, Ahmed Pathan said. “We will produce Pathak before a court soon,” he added.
Among the four cases filed by the police, three were for violating the Town Planning Act under which both 1Above and Mojo’s Bistro had been booked. The latter was earlier, however, not booked under the case filed for culpable homicide. “Based on the report by the Fire Department, we have now decided to book Mojo’s Bristo in the same case as the one in which owners of 1Above are booked for that of culpable homicide not amounting to murder,” said an official.
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Mojo’s Bistro is owned by Tirupati Restaurants and Cafe Pvt Ltd, which was registered with the Registrar of Companies, Mumbai on March 23, 2017. The company has two directors – Nagpur based businessman Yug Ravindrapal Singh Tuli and Yug Kaushal Pathak. Pathak is the son of retired IPS officer KK Pathak who served as a commissioner for Pune and Nagpur. The company was incorporated with an authorized capital of Rs 1 crore and paid up capital of Rs 1 crore As per the records of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the said company held its last Annual General Meeting on September 30, 2017, and the date of latest balance sheet filed was in March this year.
The Mumbai police had earlier said they had a mobile video in their possession which shows the fire originating from 1Above gutting down the entire premises in 52 seconds. Based on this, they had registered a case against the resto-bar.
An officer said that though the fire may not have originated from 1Above, there were several violations on their part. “Eventually, when we file the charge sheet, the charges against them will be framed on the basis of evidence gathered against the two resto-bars,” a senior officer said.
The fire at Kamala Mills Compound on December 29 claimed 14 lives, 13 patrons and one staff at 1Above. The police later registered an FIR against the three partners of 1Above — Abhijeet Mankar, Kripesh, and Jigar Sanghavi– all of whom are absconding since the day of the fire. On Monday, police arrested two persons, Kevin Bawa and Libson Lopez, who worked as managers at the 1Above pub. The Mumbai police on Friday announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for anyone who gave information about Abhijeet Mankar, Kripesh, and Jigar Sanghvi.
1Above is owned by Sigrid Ospitalita and Entertainment, LLP. Kripesh Sanghvi, Jigar Sanghvi, and Abhijeet Mankar are the three partners of the company. All the three are shown as wanted accused in the Kamala Mills fire case. It is a Mumbai-registered limited liability (LLP) company incorporated on 25 July 2016 with an initial capital of Rs 1 lakh. The company’s registration is that of Chaitya Towers Chs ltd in Mazgaon in South Mumbai.
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