Rajkot: Members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) held a meeting with the local administration here early Sunday in connection with the death of 27 people, including four children, in a massive fire at a ‘game zone’ in Rajkot city of Gujarat. Officials said that the bodies were badly burnt and there were a lot of difficulties in identifying them, for which DNA samples of the bodies and the relatives of the deceased have been collected. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel visited the spot on Nana-Mava Road and a hospital where the injured persons have been admitted on Sunday morning.
Officials said that the owner and manager of the ‘Game Zone’ have been arrested. 27 people died in a massive fire in the ‘Game Zone’ last Saturday evening, including four innocent children under the age of 12. A five-member SIT formed by the state government to investigate the incident reached Rajkot late Saturday night and held a meeting with the local administration. The SIT has to submit the report within 72 hours. Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghvi also reached Rajkot late Saturday night and attended the meeting. He said, “The Prime Minister has sought information about the incident from the Chief Minister and expressed grief over the incident. The Prime Minister has given instructions to take strict action against the culprits.”
SIT chief Additional Director General of Police Subhash Trivedi told reporters on Saturday night before the meeting that the incident was unfortunate and tragic. He said an investigation would be launched immediately to find out the culprits and ensure that such an incident does not happen again in the future. Trivedi said, “We will look into all aspects of the incident and investigate them thoroughly… We will work with full commitment, honesty and integrity to ensure justice for the children who lost their lives.”
Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vinayak Patel said that 27 bodies were recovered from the spot and were taken to the city’s civil hospital. He said that three people were injured in the incident, their condition is stable. He said, “The bodies are badly burnt. We have completed the process of collecting DNA samples from the bodies and the relatives of the deceased to identify the bodies. The death toll is not expected to increase.” Information about the main cause of the fire is not available at the moment. President Draupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed grief over this incident.
Prime Minister Modi spoke to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Saturday and took stock of the rescue and relief efforts. The Chief Minister has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured. Rajkot Police Commissioner Raju Bhargava told media persons that the cause of the fire will be investigated and a message has been issued to all the ‘gaming zones’ in the city to stop operations. In view of the fire, the Director General of Police has issued instructions to the state’s Police Commissioners and Superintendents of Police to inspect all the ‘game zones’ in Gujarat and close the ‘game zones’ operating without fire safety clearance. (With agency inputs)
