Pune eatery fire: Market Yard police book owner

PUNE: The Market Yard police on Friday registered a case on the charge of causing deaths by rash and negligent act against the eatery owner in connection with fire that broke out in Reval Siddha eatery in Market Yard on June 13.
Three workers had died in the blaze.
Senior inspector Anagha Deshpande of Market Yard police said, “The eatery owner neglected the safety of the workers by not installing any fire fighting equipment or taking any precautions to avert fire incidents in the eatery.”
Deshpande said, “A study of the eatery and the fire incident revealed that the owner had stashed many articles and equipment near the shutter door, which caused hindrance to the workers from escaping.”
The workers, Shashikant Sonba Gadappa (25), Munna Motilal Rathod (37) and Sandeep Suresh Sapkal (30), were sleeping on the mezzanine floor of the eatery after locking the door from inside. After the fire broke out, they failed to come out and died due to suffocation and burn injuries.
The officer added, “If there would have been proper firefighting equipment inside, the workers might have used it to save themselves. Also, there was no proper ventilation in the kitchen.”
The police are yet to receive a report from the fire brigade on the causes of the fire and another report from forensic experts.