Mumbai Kamala Mills Fire: Fire started at Mojo’s in hookah?

Mumbai: Where did the fire start? Some videos that the BMC has in its possession suggest the lethal blaze that gutted the two upmarket restaurants at Kamala Mills compound originated in a hookah at Mojo’s Bistro and then spread to 1Above. Incidentally, both the restaurants were running illegal hookah bars, the report has said.

Talking to a news portal, Mehta said, “In the report from the fire department that I have received, there are three important things — the start and location of the fire, the cause of the fire and how it spread. The fire started at Mojo’s Bistro and it began from a hookah. It spread because of the illegal tarpaulin and bamboo frame above and also because of other flammable substances. The fire escape route was blocked because of which people could not escape. I will complete my investigation in two weeks and hand over the final report to the state government.” Following the fire, the 1Above management had on 30 December released a statement claiming that the fire had started at Mojo’s Bistro.

On the basis of the Mumbai fire department report, which was forwarded to the Mumbai police on Friday, the police will name the owners of Mojo’s Bistro restaurant — Yug Pathak and Yug Tuli — as accused in the existing First Information Report registered at N M Joshi Marg police station.

Rs 1 lakh reward: The Mumbai Police on Friday announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh to anyone providing information about the whereabouts of the owners of ‘1 Above’ pub. The pub owners — Kripesh Mansukhlal Sanghvi, Jigar Sanghvi and Abhijeet Mankar — have been abscond-

ing ever since the fire claimed 14 lives. An offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was registered against the three at the N M Joshi Marg police station following the incident. An official said that police teams were trying to track the three and a lookout notice had also been issued.