Two additional employees of Gujarat’s Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) were arrested on Saturday in connection with the tragic fire at the TRP gamezone on May 25, which resulted in the loss of 27 lives. Rajesh Makwana, Assistant Town Planning Officer (TPO), and Jaideep Chaudhary, Assistant Engineer, were detained for allegedly altering government documents related to the gamezone following the incident, as confirmed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Parthrajsinh Gohil. These arrests bring the total number of individuals arrested in the case to 12, including six government officials and six others.
Prior to these arrests, four government officials, including Town Planning Officer MD Sagathia, Assistant TPOs Mukesh Makwana and Gautam Joshi, and former Station Officer Rohit Vigora from Kalavad Road fire station, had been taken into custody. Additionally, one of the six co-owners of the TRP gamezone, Ashoksinh Jadeja, surrendered recently, joining four other co-owners already in custody. One co-owner died in the fire, while a manager associated with the establishment has also been arrested.
Investigations revealed that Prakash Hiran, another co-owner listed in the FIR, perished in the blaze while inside the premises during the incident. CCTV footage indicated that the fire started from sparks igniting thermocol sheets during welding work on the ground floor. Despite efforts by workers using fire extinguishers, the fire quickly spread and engulfed the entire building.
Further scrutiny uncovered that the TRP gamezone had been operating without a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the municipal corporation’s fire department, underscoring serious deficiencies in adherence to safety and regulatory protocols.
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