Acting on the findings of the Mumbai fire brigade that went into the recent pubs’ blaze at the Kamala Mill compound in south-central Mumbai, the city police on Saturday arrested Yug K. Pathak, son of a retired IPS officer and Pune's former Police Commissioner and one of the co-owners of Mojo's Bistro which was one of the three restaurants gutted in the December 29 fire.
More than a week after 14 persons were killed and 55 others were injured in the massive fire that ripped Mojo's Bistro lounge, neighbouring 1Above casual dining restaurant and London Taxi Gastropub at Trade House, the police took Yug into custody for his alleged role in the circumstances leading to the massive blaze.
“We have booked under section 304 of IPC for culpable homicide not amounting to murder," Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Patil said.
Yug’s is the first major arrest made by the city police in connection with December 29 fire, in which the investigators had earlier arrested four relatively insignificant persons—two managers of 1Above pub – Kevin Bawa and Gibson Lopez and two relatives of the key absconding accused Rakesh Sanghavi and cousin Aditya Sanghavi.
Yug’s arrest came a day after the Mumbai fire bridge stated in its inquiry report submitted to Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta that the fire originated from Mojo's Bistro and not 1Above casual dining restaurant and that the bodies of all those killed in the mishap were found in the bathroom of 1 Above which shared the terrace with Mojo’s.
Yug is one of the partners of Mojo’s, the others being Yug Tuli, Tirupati Restaurants and Cafe Pvt Ltd, Pritina Shreshtha and Soumil Shringarpure. Till Yug Phatak’s arrest, the only person against whom a case had been registered was Yug Tuli against whom a civil case had been registered under Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act for land use violations. Tuli is a businessman from Nagpur.
It may be recalled that on December 30, a day after the mishap, the police had filed three first information reports against at least two of the pubs - The Mojo's Bistro and 1Above and Ramesh Govani, the owner of the Kamala Mills Compound at Lower Parel in north-centrall Mumbai, where posh corporate offices and high-end pubs and restaurants are located.
Talking to media persons, Joint Police Commissioner (Law & Order) Deven Bharti said: “Since the Mumbai fire brigade personnel have found that the fire originated from Mojo's, we have included the names of the concerned as accused. Action will be taken soon".
Still to lay hands on the real culprits behind the incident, the Mumbai police had on Friday announced a cash reward for giving information about the whereabouts of the absconding owner-partners of 1Above pub - Kripesh Sanghavi, Jigar Sanghavi and Abhijeet Mankar.
Having arrested two managers of 1Above pub – Kevin Bawa and Gibson Lopez – and obtained their police custody till 9, the police had earlie on December 31 arrested two relatives of the absconding Sanghavi duo – uncle Rakesh Sanghavi and cousin Aditya Sanghavi – for giving shelter to the co-owners of 1Above pub, Kripesh Sanghavi and Jigar Sanghavi, against whom a reward has been announced.
The uncle-cousin --Rakesh Sanghavi and Aditya Sanghavi – were subsequently produced before the Bhoiwada Court which released them on a bail of Rs.25,000. The police are on the lookout for another relative.
In a related development, the Opposition Congress and MNS have demanded to know as to who were the politicians who had advised Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta to “go slow” in the investigations into December 29 pub fire.