Rajkot

Police on Wednesday filed a charge sheet running into 1 lakh pages against 15 accused in the Rajkot game zone fire tragedy that killed 27 persons in May. "Statements of 365 witnesses have been recorded. Altogether, 15 persons, including co-owners of TRP game zone and officials of Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) have been arrested," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), Parthrajsinh Gohil. As many as 27 people, including children, were charred to death in a massive fire that gutted the entire game zone facility on May 25. The charge sheet was filed by the crime branch in the court of Rajkot Judicial Magistrate First Class AP Dave. "It emerged during the investigation that the blaze spread and engulfed the entire structure within 3-4 minutes due to highly-inflammable construction materials such as foam sheet, plastic and wood, with sparks flowing from the welding work being carried out at that time," Gohil told media persons. The charge sheet runs into over 1 lakh pages and

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be on a visit to Ahmedabad city in Gujarat on Saturday, where he will address party workers, a leader said. Gandhi will also meet the family members of those who lost their lives in various tragedies in Gujarat in the recent past, including the Rajkot game zone fire, the boat capsize incident in Vadodara and Morbi bridge collapse. The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha is visiting Gujarat days after BJP and Congress workers clashed outside the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) office here over alleged anti-Hindu remarks made by Gandhi in the Lok Sabha. Following the clash, complaints were lodged against each other by both sides and FIRs were registered, leading to the arrest of five Congress workers. Talking to reporters on Friday, Gujarat Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil said Gandhi will also meet the family members of those five Congress workers who are currently in police custody. "Rahul Gandhi will arrive at the GPCC office

The Rajkot canopy collapse occurred as the southwest monsoon advanced further into Gujarat, bringing heavy rain across the state

The Rajkot Municipal Corporation's chief fire officer and deputy CFO were arrested on Saturday in connection with the massive blaze at a game zone here on May 25, which resulted in the deaths of 27 persons, including children. CFO Ilesh Kher and Deputy CFO Bhikha Theba as well as Mahesh Rathod, who was the supervisor of the fabrication work going on at the ill-fated TRP Game Zone, were arrested, the official said. "Theba is already in jail in connection with a corruption case and his custody was taken through a transfer warrant. With this, we have so far arrested 15 persons in connection with the blaze," he said. Kher was accused of not inquiring about whether the unit possessed a valid fire NOC certificate as well as proper fire fighting equipment after a similar blaze broke out during welding work at TRP game zone on September 4 last year, a statement from the police said. Rathod was held for alleged negligence in his duty and not ensuring proper safety during the welding work, .

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday interacted with the relatives of some of the victims of last month's TRP game zone fire incident in Rajkot city of Gujarat via video conferencing, and said his party was with them, party sources said. Twenty seven persons, including four children, were killed in the massive fire that swept through the game zone in Nana-Mava locality of Rajkot city on May 25. Gandhi interacted with the family members and relatives of some of the victims who were charred to death in the tragedy. "Congress leader Rahul Gandhi interacted with the family members of some of the victims of the game zone fire incident via video conferencing from Pathik Ashram here on Saturday afternoon. The meeting went on for nearly half-an-hour. He expressed condolences and said the party is with them," a party source said. Congress' Gujarat unit president Shaktisinh Gohil was with Gandhi in Delhi, while Gujarat Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani and party leader Lalji Desai, among ...

Two employees of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) have been arrested for allegedly making certain changes in documents pertaining to a game zone after a fire there last month claimed 27 lives, police said on Sunday. With this, 12 persons, including six government employees, have so been arrested in connection with the May 25 incident at the TRP game zone in Gujarat's Rajkot city, they said The city crime branch on Saturday arrested RMC's assistant town planning officer Rajesh Makwana and assistant engineer Jaideep Chaudhary for their alleged involvement in making changes in an official register after the fire incident, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime, Parthrajsinh Gohil said. "They made certain changes in government documents related to the TRP game zone after the fire incident. They also forged documents," he said. "So far we have arrested six government employees and six other persons in connection with the TRP game zone fire," Gohil said. The four government employee

Police have arrested a co-owner of the Rajkot game zone, where a fire claimed 27 lives last month, taking the number of arrests in the case to ten, an official said on Friday. Ashoksinh Jadeja, one of the six owners of the TRP game zone, surrendered before the police on Thursday evening, the official said. Jadeja, who owns the land on which the game zone had come up, had been absconding after a fire devastated the recreation facility on May 25 in Gujarat's Rajkot city. Rajkot Police Commissioner Brajesh Kumar Jha confirmed on Friday that Jadeja is in the custody of the crime branch after his surrender. Earlier, police had arrested five co-owners and a manager of the game zone. They also took into custody four government officials, including Rajkot's Town Planning Officer (TPO) M D Sagathia, assistant TPOs Mukesh Makwana and Gautam Joshi, and former station officer of Kalavad Road fire station Rohit Vigora. During the probe, it was confirmed that one of the co-owners, Prakash Hiran

The Mumbai Fire Brigade has served notices to 17 of 68 malls over the past one week after carrying out surprise inspections last month, a civic official said on Monday. A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation release said 48 of the 68 malls were found to be following fire safety norms during inspections held between May 26 and 30, while 17 malls have got notices for not adhering to these stipulations. The malls were inspected on the order of BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani following the massive fire in TRP Game Zone in Rajkot in neighbouring Gujarat on May 25, which resulted in the death of 28 persons, including children. "The 17 malls have been issued notices under the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Protection Measures Act 2006. They have been given 30 days to rectify the identified deficiencies failing which they will face further action," it said. Meanwhile, the Mumbai Fire Brigade has declared as unsafe Malad West-based M/s The Mall, where a fire incident took place on ...

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The Gujarat police have arrested one more partner of the Rajkot-based TRP game zone where a fire last week killed 27 persons, while another accused died in the blaze, officials said on Wednesday. The total number of arrests in connection with the incident has now gone up to five, according to police. Kiritsinh Jadeja, a partner in Raceway Enterprises, which operated the game zone, was arrested from Rajkot-Kalavad road on Tuesday night, Rajkot Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Parthrajsinh Gohil told PTI. Jadeja is among six partners of the TRP game zone named as accused in the fire incident and booked under various Indian Penal Code provisions, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. "We arrested accused Kiritsinh Jadeja near Rajkot last night, taking the total number of arrests made in the case so far to five," Gohil said. "Out of six persons named in the FIR, one Prakash Hiran has died in the fire. During examination, the DNA sample of one of the deceased matche

The Gujarat police have arrested one more partner of the Rajkot-based TRP game zone where a devastating fire last week killed 27 persons, an official said on Tuesday. Dhaval Thakkar, the proprietor of Dhaval Corporation, which ran the TRP game zone along with five partners of Raceway Enterprises, was arrested from Abu Road in neighbouring Rajasthan, Banaskantha Superintendent of Police Akshayraj Makwana said. With this, four persons have so far been arrested in connection with the fire incident at the game zone on Saturday. "Thakkar was arrested from Abu Road in a joint operation carried out by the Rajkot and Banaskantha police last night," Makwana said. The police had earlier arrested Yuvrajsinh Solanki and Rahul Rathod, partners in the Raceway Enterprises, and game zone manager Nitin Jain. They were on Monday sent to 14-day police custody by a court in Rajkot. The police have registered an FIR against six persons - Thakkar, Solanki, Rathod, and Raceway Enterprises partners Ashok

The police on Monday arrested one of the partners of the ill-fated game zone in Gujarat's Rajkot, where 27 persons, including children, died in a fire, an official said. The police have registered an FIR against six partners of the TRP game zone on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and had earlier arrested two persons in connection with the incident. "The Rajkot police have arrested Rahul Rathod, one of the partners in the Raceway Enterprise, which operated the game zone. He is the third accused arrested in the case," said Rajkot Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime, Parthrajsinh Gohil. The Rajkot taluka police have booked Dhaval Corporation's proprietor, Dhaval Thakkar, and Raceway Enterprise partners Ashoksinh Jadeja, Kiritsinh Jadeja, Prakashchand Hiran, Yuvrajsinh Solanki and Rahul Rathod in the case. On Sunday, the police arrested one of the partners, Yuvrajsinh Solanki, and the entertainment facility's manager, Nitin Jain. The three arrested accused are ..

The Gujarat government on Monday ordered the suspension of five officials, including two police inspectors and civic staff, with immediate effect for negligence in connection with the Rajkot game zone fire which claimed 27 lives. The officials have been held responsible "for their gross negligence in allowing this game zone to operate without necessary approvals," stated a government release. Notably, it has emerged the facility, where the blaze erupted on Saturday, was operated without the fire NOC (no objection certificate). "The game zone had received permissions from the roads and buildings department. It had also submitted a proof of fire safety equipment to obtain the fire NOC which was under process and not yet completed," Rajkot Police Commissioner Raju Bhargava told reporters on Sunday. The government's action of suspending five officials comes a day after Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel inspected the site where the fire erupted on Saturday and instructed the departments ..

A massive fire broke out at a game zone in Gujarat's Rajkot city on Saturday, killing 27 people, including children

Recent fires at a children's hospital in Delhi and a gaming zone in Rajkot have resulted in the loss of 34 lives, raising concerns about safety standards across India. Read on to find out the causes

An owner partner of the Rajkot-based TRP game zone and its manager were arrested on the charge of culpable homicide after a devastating blaze killed 27 persons including children, while it emerged the facility was operated without fire NOC. The game zone had fire safety equipment but action taken to control the fire was not sufficient, leading to the tragedy on Saturday, a senior police officer said on Sunday, a day after the tragedy. The Gujarat High Court on Sunday took suo motu cognisance of the fire tragedy, terming it a prima facie "man-made disaster". The bench noted a stock of highly inflammable materials such as petrol, fibres and fibreglass sheets were stored at the facility. "Yuvrajsinh Solanki, a partner in the Raceway Enterprise, which operated the TRP game zone, and the entertainment facility's manager Nitin Jain have so far been arrested," said Rajkot Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Parthrajsinh Gohil. Rajkot taluka police have booked six persons for culpable ..

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A massive fire broke out at a gaming zone in Gujarat's Rajkot city on May 25 evening resulting in the loss of lives including children

A special bench of the Gujarat High Court on Sunday took suo motu cognizance of the fire incident at a game zone in Rajkot which left 27 persons dead and said it was prima facie a "man-made disaster". Such gaming zones and recreational facilities have come up without the necessary approvals from competent authorities, the bench of Justices Biren Vaishnav and Devan Desai observed. The bench directed advocates of the Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot municipal corporations to appear before it on Monday with instructions as to under what provisions of law the authorities led these units to be set up or continue to operate under their jurisdiction. Four children under the age of 12 were among the 27 persons killed and three others injured in the massive fire that swept through the game zone in Rajkot teeming with people enjoying a summer vacation outing on Saturday evening, as per the officials. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel visited the incident site at Nana-Mava road on Sunday ..