Kamala Mills Fire: 3 More Arrests Post Mojo’s Co-Owner’s Surrender

All owners of Mojo’s Bistro & 1 Above, the pubs involved in the fire at Kamala Mills compound have been arrested.

Three persons including a fire official have been arrested in the Kamala Mills fire case, on Saturday, 20 January.

The owner of Mojo's Bistro pub, Yug Tuli, who had been evading arrest in the Kamala Mills compound fire case, surrendered before the Mumbai Police on 16 January, officials said.

"We have arrested Yug Tuli, after he surrendered himself before police at NM Joshi Marg Police Station," S Jaykumar, Additional Commissioner of Police (Central) told PTI. He will be produced before a court later in the day, said Jaykumar.

In a parallel development, the Bombay High Court on 16 January granted bail to hotelier Vishal Karia, who was arrested earlier this month in connection with the blaze. Karia was booked under Section 216 of the Indian Penal Code for harbouring an offender after the police found an Audi car belonging to prime accused Abhijeet Mankar, co-owner of the 1 Above pub, at his residence.

Fire Likely Started at Mojo’s Bistro: Preliminary Report

A preliminary investigation report by the Mumbai fire brigade on 5 January revealed that the blaze in the Kamala Mills compound may have been sparked by the flying embers from the illegal hookah being served at Mojo's Bistro. It then spread to the adjacent rooftop pub, 1 Above.

Most of the victims were trapped in the toilet of the pub and died of suffocation, the police had said earlier.

Arrest Files

With Tuli, all the owners of Mojo's Bistro and the adjacent 1 Above, the pubs involved in the 29 December 2017 blaze at Kamala Mills compound – that claimed 14 lives – have been arrested, another official said.

According to reports, Tuli, a Nagpur-based businessman, was spotted with his wife at the Hyderabad airport on 14 January, but evaded arrest. Mojo’s co-owner Yug Pathak, the son of former Pune Police Commissioner KK Pathak, was sent to police custody for five days on 7 January. Both Tuli and Pathak were booked under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life and personal safety of others) among other provisions.

Initially, this offence was registered against the Jigar Sanghvi, Kripesh Sanghvi, and Abhijeet Mankar, the co-owners of the 1 Above pub. The three were arrested on 10 January and booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder as well as other offences. The court also sent managers of the 1 Above pub – Kevin Bawa and Lisbon Lopez – to judicial custody till 22 January.

(With inputs from PTI, ANI)

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