Bazarghat blaze: Building owner arrested
HYDERABAD: Ramesh Jaiswal, the owner of the building where a massive fire broke out killing 10 persons of a family on November 13 at Bazarghat in Nampally, was arrested on Saturday and sent to judicial remand. While nine persons died on the day of the mishap, a 17-year-old boy, Talha Nasar, died in hospital on Thursday after battling for life. He suffered 75 percent burns.
Ramesh Jaiswal allegedly stocked 130 drums containing chemical oils in the ground floor of his building, Balaji Residency, which led to the outbreak of the fire. He was booked under Sections 304, 285 and 286 of IPC and Section 9 of the Explosives Act. Soon after the fire, he complained of chest pain and got himself admitted to a private hospital in Lakdikapul.
Police deployed some personnel outside the hospital to take Jaiswal into custody soon after his discharge. Though he was discharged on Thursday, he was arrested on Saturday.
Speaking to TNIE, Saifabad Zone ACP Sanjay Kumar said, “Ramesh Jaiswal was arrested in the fire accident case on Saturday. Nampally police have booked cases against him under various sections of IPC and Explosives Act. The accused was sent to judicial remand by evening. A petition will be filed in court soon seeking his custody for interrogation.”
Jaiswal was a wholesale and retail trader in resin chemicals which he bought from distributors based in Shadnagar and Mumbai. Whenever he got an order for chemicals, he used to procure them from the distributors and supply the same to his customers by the next day. Most of the loads come at night and the accused would store them in the building. His tenants asked him on several occasions not to store the inflammable materials in the building but they fell on deaf ears, say sources.
As feared by the tenants, a massive fire broke out in the building on November 20 killing 10 persons of the same family. Preliminary investigation suggested short circuit as the cause of the fire, a thorough probe is needed to know the exact reason for the mishap. It was found that 30 drums and 88 cans of resin chemical were stored in the building. Samples were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for chemical analysis. According to the police, the actual source of the fire would be known after receiving a report from the FSL.