Mumbai building fire: builder arrested

Mumbai: Following a fire at a residential high-rise in Dadar area in Mumbai, which claimed at least four lives, police arrested the builder late tonight. A case of culpable homicide was registered against the developer of the building, Abdul Razak Ismail Supariwala. He was subsequently arrested, said an officer from Bhoiwada police station.

“The developer has been booked under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 336 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others),” Deputy Commissioner of Police N Ambika said earlier today.

Supariwala was booked under the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Act 2006, the officer said. Fire broke out this morning on the 12th floor of the 17-storey Crystal Tower building near Hindmata Cinema. The building does not have the mandatory Occupation Certificate granted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, but it was already occupied by around 58 flat owners, according to the civic body.

The civic body had in October 2016 issued a notice to the builder and the 58 occupants to vacate the building within seven days, but it was challenged in the court and the matter is still sub-judice, the BMC said in a statement. Four people, including an elderly woman, were killed and 21 suffered injuries in the fire.