Rajkot (Gujarat) [India], May 27 (ANI): Three men arrested in connection with the game zone fire that claimed 28 lives have been sent to a 14-day police remand by a court in the Rajkot district on Monday.
The court of additional judicial magistrate BP Thakar remanded three accused Yuvraj Hari Singh Solanki, Nitin Jain and Rahul Rathod in police custody for two weeks, special public prosecutor Tushar Gokani said.
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Speaking to the media on Monday, Special Public Prosecutor Tushar Gokani said, “Today the accused were brought before the honourable court and further police custody of 14 days was sought. Out of 6 accused named in the FIR, 3 accused persons were arrested, of which two are named in the FIR and one of them was not named.”
“The main ground of remand was that they were not cooperating during the investigation. They (the accused) are giving ‘evasive replies’ to whatever questions are asked and whatever documents are asked. They are saying it was burnt in the incident. They are not cooperating in the investigation and that was the main ground — to seek their cooperation and elicit truth from them,” said the official.
“We told the court that the main accused are on the run, and these accused persons make evasive replies and are not cooperating with the investigating agencies,” Gokani said.
He said that accused Solanki tried to put up an act in his bid to express before the court that he was filled with remorse for whatever happened.
“When he entered the court, he tried to project that he had remorse for the incident and everyone felt that he was crying. After five minutes, he was laughing and arguing with the court,” Gokani said.
“This very accused seemed like he was crying as soon as he entered the court but in just a few minutes he started laughing and he said that ‘these kinds of things happen,’ which was taken in a serious note by the honourable court,” said Gokani.
SPP Gokani further said that the police are investigating all the facets of the said documents, investigation on the matter is underway.
Two partners in Raceway Enterprise, which operated the TRP game zone, Yuvraj Hari Singh Solanki and Rahul Rathod, and the manager of the recreation centre, Nitin Jain, are now in police custody.
The officials have been held responsible “for their gross negligence in allowing this game zone to operate without necessary approvals,” according to a government release.
The FIR has been filed against six people, including TRP Game Zone owner Yuvraj Hari Singh Solanki, manager Nitin Jain, and others at Rajkot Taluka Police Station.
Earlier in the day, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Rambhai Mokariya visited the families of Rajkot fire incident victims on Monday.
Confirming the death toll, he said, “The official death toll stands at 28. It has not increased and any number other than that is just a rumour.”
The Gujarat government ordered the suspension of seven officials, including two police inspectors and civic staff of Rajkot Municipal Corporation, for dereliction of duty in connection with the fire incident at a gaming zone in Rajkot.
Following the incident, all the gaming zones in Vadodara were inspected and temporarily shut down. (ANI)
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