Fire tragedy: Kamala Mills owner's statement recorded

Mumbai: Police have recorded the statement of the owner of Kamala Mills Compound, where a massive fire broke out last week, killing 14 people, an official said today. The statement of Ramesh Govani, the owner of Kamala Mills Compound, was recorded yesterday by a team from the N M Joshi Marg police station in connection with the fire, he said.

Govani has been accused of violating the norms of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act. “We have recorded the statement of Ramesh Govani for violation of the MRTP Act norms,” Ahmad Pathan, Senior Police Inspector of N M Joshi Marg, told PTI.

Earlier, the police had summoned him for questioning in connection with the case registered against him, another official said. Apart from the MRTP Act case, the police asked him questions in connection with the fire incident at `1Above’ and Mojo’s Bistro pub, housed in Kamala Mills, where 14 people were killed and more than 21 injured on December 29, another official said.

On Sunday, the police recorded the statement of Yug Pathak, son of a retired IPS officer and owner of Mojo’s Bistro in Kamala Mills, which was gutted in the fire, he said. The main accused in the case – 1Above pub owners Kripesh, Jigar Sanghavi and Abhijeet Mankar – are still at large.

On Monday, the police arrested two persons – Kevin Bawa and Libson Lopez – who worked as managers at 1Above pub. They were booked under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (causing hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), the police had said.