Kamala Mills Fire: Fire brigade officer, owner of hookah parlour jailed

The trio was produced in the Bhoiwada court on Sunday. Pic/Satej Shinde

After irregularities came to the fore following the arrests of a partner of Kamala Mills, a fire brigade officer and the owner of a hookah parlour, the Bhoiwada court on Sunday remanded them in police custody till January 25. The arrested have been identified as Ravi Bhandari, the partner, station fire officer Rajendra Patil and Utkarsh Pandey, owner of Nirvana Hookah.

In court, the police said Bhandari was responsible for the blaze, as he had given the terrace on lease without having a Commencement Certificate from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). They also mentioned that Yug Tuli, co-owner of Mojo's Bistro, had signed the hookah contract with Pandey, who was supplying it to Mojo's and 1 Above, and on December 22, Patil had submitted a fire NOC for the terrace, saying it was an open space. A police officer said, "It is impossible to construct such a large terrace in just five days. It is clear that either the photos were taken much earlier or Patil did not visit the site himself and went by the pictures. In either case, he has failed to perform his duty." However, Patil's advocate Sahil Salvi said in court, "We have all the documents supporting the NOC."

Pandey's advocate Sayaji Nangre said, "The police wanted to get hold of the agreement papers that he had signed with the pub owner. However, after holding him back at the station for an entire day and taking statements, the cops arrested him. Why is he being kept in custody if they need only the documents?"

"On Saturday, the police called him for his statement and then arrested him. They are saying he is not cooperating in the investigation, which is not true," said Bhandari's lawyer.

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