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Two More Arrested in Connection with Surat Fire

They were identified as Harshul Vekharia and Jignesh Paghdal, and their arrests come a day after coaching class owner Bhargav Butani was held, an official said.

PTI

Updated:May 26, 2019, 10:21 PM IST
Two More Arrested in Connection with Surat Fire
Fire tenders were rushed for rescue operations after a major fire broke out in a two-storey building in Surat’s Sarthana.
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Surat: Two persons who were on the run in connection with the devastating fire in a coaching class in Surat which killed 22 students were arrested on Sunday, police said.

They were identified as Harshul Vekharia and Jignesh Paghdal, and their arrests come a day after coaching class owner Bhargav Butani was held, an official said.

Twenty-two students, including 18 girls, of an art and craft coaching institute died in a massive blaze in the four-storeyed Takshashila Arcade in Sarthana area of Surat on
Friday.

"Vekharia is the builder while Paghdal used to handle the overall management of Takshashila Arcade. Both were arrested today. We have also got two-day remand of Butani," Surat Police Commissioner Satish Sharma said.

Earlier on Sunday, Gujarat Chief Secretary JN Singh said that the presence of inflammable materialshttps://www.news18.com/news/india/tyres-doubled-up-as-chairs-in-coaching-class-at-surat-complex-that-went-up-in-flames-2160505.html?ref=hp_top_pos_10, including flex and tyres, and fire tenders stationed away from the spot had contributed to the blaze.

Preliminary probe revealed that the use of highly inflammable materials and tyres, which doubled up as chairs in the coaching class, caused the fire to spread rapidly, Singh said.

"The fire spread very quickly because highly inflammable materials, such as flex, were used... The ceiling (of the coaching institute) was just five feet high. Since one cannot sit on a chair in such a room, the owner used tyres instead of chairs for the students," he said.

"High-capacity fire tenders took time to reach the spot as they were stationed at a considerable distance, around 45 minutes away. It hampered the fire-fighting operation to some extent," he said.

The municipal corporation has high-capacity fire tenders for dousing fires in multi-storeyed buildings.
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