News India Mumbai Kamala Mills fire: Managers of ‘1 Above’ pub sent to police custody till Jan 9; crackdown on illegal structures continues

Mumbai Kamala Mills fire: Managers of ‘1 Above’ pub sent to police custody till Jan 9; crackdown on illegal structures continues

Both Lopez and Bawa were present in the pub when the blaze occurred in the early hours of December 29, but fled without helping the guests.

Onlookers gather around as BMC bulldozers take down illegally constructed eateries in the Kamala Mills compound following a fire incident in Mumbai.(PTI)
The city civic body continued to raze unauthorised structures of restaurants, hotels and other food joints for the third day today, after a fire i Onlookers gather around as BMC bulldozers take down illegally constructed eateries in the Kamala Mills compound following a fire incident in Mumbai.(PTI) The city civic body continued to raze unauthorised structures of restaurants, hotels and other food joints for the third day today, after a fire i

Both managers of the pub '1 Above ' were remanded to police custody till January 9 by Mumbai's Bhoiwada Court, after a fire at the diner killed 14 people last week. 

Gibson Lopez (34) and Kevin Bawa (35) were arrested by a team of sleuths from the NM Joshi Marg police station, earlier in the day.
 
Both Lopez and Bawa were working as the managers of the pub, located at the Kamala Mills compound in Lower Parel area in Mumbai. 

They were present in the pub when the blaze occurred in the early hours of December 29, but fled without helping the guests, the official said.
 
“We have arrested both the managers,” senior police inspector Ahmad Pathan told PTI. 

They have been booked under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (causing hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), the police said. 

The massive fire that swept through the pub left 14 people dead and 21 injured.

Massive crackdown on illegal structures in Mumbai

The city civic body continued its crackdown on illegal constructions at hotels, restaurants and commercial establishments for the fourth day today.  

On the directions of Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta, illegal alterations and constructions were being razed in the Todi Mill and Raghuvanshi Mills areas since this morning, a senior civic official said. 

In the last three days, several structures were razed in the Kamala Mills compound area, where the fire incident occurred last week, he said, adding demolition drives would be conducted regularly to keep a check on unauthorized constructions. 

The BMC demolished illegal constructions and alterations at over 355 establishments in the city till yesterday.  Civic officials inspected 615 establishments and initiated action against 355 hotels, restaurants and pubs for the illegalities till yesterday, the BMC said.  

Besides, 426 LPG cylinders were seized from various eateries for violation of norms related to their use and storage or construction of kitchens among other reasons, a release from the BMC yesterday said.

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