Mumbai Police arrests Ramesh Govani, the owner of Kamala Mills

The Mumbai Police has on Monday arrested Ramesh Govani, the owner of Kamala Mills for non-compliance of safety norms in the pub, that resulted into the fire, killing 14 people. The police have confirmed that he will remain in custody until January 29. On December 29 last year, a fire broke out in the Kamala Mills of Mumbai, and as a result, 14 people were killed and 55 others injured. The fire initially started at the restaurant Mojo-Bistro which later spread to other pubs on the rooftop of Kamala Trade House. Ramesh Govani is accused of & lsquo negligently causing structural changes' because of which people could not escape when the fire broke out at resto bars there. Gowani, who was traveling in a car on Monday evening, was intercepted at suburban Chembur by a team of the N M Joshi Marg police station. He is booked under section 304 (culpable homicide), section 337 (endangering life or personal safety of others) and 34 (criminal act by several persons in furtherance of the common intention of all) of IPC. He was also earlier booked under the relevant section of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act, a day after the police took into custody Ravi Bhandari, a partner in Kamala Mills, fire station officer Rajendra Patil and the owner of Nirvana Hookah, Utkarsh Pandey. The arrest of Govani is the ninth one with respect to the Kamala Mills case. Govani and others were arrested after the BMC came out with its inquiry report, according to which, the flying embers from hookah served illegally at Mojo's Bistro was the main reason for the fire. The report also proposed criminal action against the owner of the premises- Mojo's Bistro and 1Above, and concerned architects and interior decorators. It also proposed departmental inquiry against ten fire brigade officials for dereliction of duty. The 98-page report also sought amendments to the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act to make the punishment for such lapses by restaurants or eateries more stringent. The police had earlier arrested Yug Tuli and Yug Pathak, the co-owners of Mojo Bistro under section 304 (culpable homicide amounting to murder) and section 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life and personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code. Besides them, the three owners of the 1Above pub- Kripesh Sanghvi, Jigar Sanghavi and Abhijit Mankar, were arrested on 10 January. Two managers of 1Above -Kevin Bawa and Lisbon Lopez - have also been arrested in the same case.