NEW DELHI: After midnight on Monday, several tempos could be seen entering the Anaj Mandi area and leaving with heaps of manufacture, residents said.
After Rehan, the owner of the building that was engulfed in a blaze, was arrested, others who were violating the same norms were seen clearing out of the buildings running illegal factories, in a bid to save themselves from action.
One of the residents, who made a video of the scene in the street early on Tuesday, said: “This kept happening for a few hours after 1.30 am. They were loading material from the factory and shifting it somewhere,” he said.
The eye-witnesses requested anonymity.
As the police have not been given orders to hamper anyone from shifting the produce, the personnel deployed in the area, were at the spot when the factory owners were trying to save themselves from action.
Earlier, North Municipal Corporation of Delhi Standing Committee Chairperson Jai Prakash told this newspaper that the civic body had done a survey in Anaj Mandi and its nearby areas and found 25-30 factories in residential buildings violating pollution and industry norms.
According to police, Rehan had illegally constructed two floors in 2008 and had rented out each floor and individual rooms to about 15 people.
He was arrested under Sections 304 and 285 of the Indian Penal Code along with his manager Furkan who lived a few metres away from the affected building.
According to eye-witnesses, Furkan had left the building a few minutes before it caught fire. They told police that he tried to help many people vacate the premises of the building but as the second floor was the worse hit, those on the upper floors could not be saved.
Eyewitnesses asked to record statements
East Delhi district magistrate Arun Kumar Mishra on Tuesday invited people, particularly eyewitnesses, to record their statements regarding the Anaj Mandi fire on Wednesday from 11 am to 4 pm in his office, an official said