2 weeks Ago
Surat: Police arrested two persons on Friday for their alleged negligence in the Shiv Pooja Complex fire on Wednesday which killed two women from Sikkim. Police will produce the accused in court on Saturday. As part of the investigation, police have received the postmortem reports and a report from the Surat Fire and Emergency Services (SFES), based on which police registered the offence against Shanavaz Mistry, Wasim Chauhan and Dilshad Khan.
Mistry and Khan have been arrested while Chauhan is at large. Binu Limboo (30) and Manisha Damai (33), who were working in the spa, had died of asphyxiation in the fire. Their bodies were found inside a bathroom in the spa.
The investigation revealed that Mistry and Chauhan had leased the premises from one Bhupendra Popat in 2019. Popat later sold the premises to developer Anil Roongta, who allowed the gym and spa to continue operations. Mistry and Chauhan had been running the gymnasium "Gym11" and had rented out a portion to Khan, who was running the ALF Hair and Beauty Lounge.
Sources in the police said due to unapproved construction in the building, it had been sealed multiple times in the past, but under some influence, the seals had been removed. "Reports from the Surat Municipal Corporation, Forensic Science Laboratory and electrical department are awaited. Based on these reports, police will get further leads," an investigator said.
SFES officials say they had served notices on the gymnasium for the necessary infrastructure, but after the fire it emerged that no action had been taken after that. The gym was ordered to be closed by SFES but had been operating. The SMC's South West Zone and town development department officials said they did not have details on whether the construction inside the premises was authorized.
The zonal office is yet to ascertain whether action had been taken for any illegal construction..
