Kamala Mills blaze: Mumbai police arrests all 3 '1 Above' owners

Mumbai: All the three owners of ‘1 Above’ pub, who had been absconding for nearly two weeks since 14 people were killed in a fire at Kamala Mills compound in Mumbai, were arrested by Mumbai police.

Acting on a tip-off, Mumbai police arrested two owners Jigar Sanghvi and Kripesh Sanghvi late on Wednesday night while Abhijeet Mankar, who was on the run, was arrested on Thursday morning. A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered against them.

The Sanghvi brothers, who were on the run since the incident, were arrested from the Andheri area in Mumbai, additional commissioner of police S Jaikumar told PTI.

Mumbai police spokesperson said they would be produced before the Bhoiwada court on Thursday.

Jigar and Kripesh were arrested on the information provided by Juhu-based hotelier Vishal Kariya, who was arrested on Wednesday for sheltering the duo and another owner of the pub, Abhijeet Mankar.

The police had, earlier, announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for the whereabouts of the ‘1 Above’ owners.

The police have recovered a high-end car of accused Mankar, from the Juhu residence of Kariya (42), who was then picked up for questioning.

During the interrogation, the hotelier revealed that he sheltered the trio at his residence.

Kariya had been booked under Section 216 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The Sanghvi brothers were absconding since December 29 when the fire swept through ‘1 Above’ and adjacent ‘Mojo's Bistro’ resto-pub in Kamala Mills compound in central Mumbai.

Yug Pathak, one of the owners of Mojo's Bistro and the son of former Pune police commissioner KK Pathak, was arrested on January 6 in the case.

Earlier, the owners of ‘1 Above’ had written to the President, Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Mumbai Police Commissioner and the chief of the city's civic body, demanding that the matter be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Alleging there was a conspiracy against them, they accused the police of “destroying the evidence on site and making false reports”.

The report said flying embers from the charcoal used for hookahs touched the curtains at the upscale pub. The restaurant did not have clearance to serve sheesha. According to the fire department, both ‘1 Above’ and ‘Mojo’s Bistro’ had illegal structures and flouted fire safety norms.

Most of the people who died were patrons of ‘1 Above’.  Their bodies were found piled up inside the toilet. They had gone there to escape the blaze, but died of suffocation.