Kamala Mills fire: Police files FIRs against owners of 1Above, Mojo's Bistro over illegal constructions

Following the Kamala Mills fire which killed 14 people on Friday, the Mumbai Police has booked the owners of Mojo’s Bistro, 1Above and the owner of the mills for illegal constructions, media reports said on Saturday. According to ANI, the FIRs were filed on a complaint by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) against Mojo’s Bistro pub and 1Above restaurant based on several violations of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act. The case was lodged at NM Joshi Marg police station. [caption id=“attachment_4281807” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Firemen douse fire at Kamala Mills on Friday. Reuters[/caption] The police has booked Abhijit Mankar, Hitesh Sanghvi and Jigar Sanghvi of 1Above and Yug Pathak and Duke Tuli of Mojo’s Bistro. The owner of Kamala Mills Ramesh Govani has also been named in one of the FIRs. The police registered three separate FIRs for illegal constructions at 1Above, Mojo and P22, a food joint at Raghuvanshi Mills. The police issued lookout notices against the three owners of 1Above on Saturday and said they were in the process of issuing lookout notices against the other accused. The Mumbai Police has deployed five special squads to arrest them. In the wake of the inferno, the Mumbai civic administration cracked down on restaurants and started razing unauthorised constructions ahead of new year’s eve.

The BMC took action against at least five eateries and restaurants as a BMC official confirmed that they have pulled down “illegal roofs” of restaurants Skyview Café and Social in Kamala Mills and encroachments of Pranay and Fumes and Sheesha Sky Lounge at Raghuvanshi Mills in the same precinct.

It also took action against franchisee of Smaaash — an entertainment and gaming company co-owned by Sachin Tendulkar — and Pravas at Kamala Mills. In its demolition drive against illegal structures on Saturday, the BMC demolished 314 out of 624 places in different wards of Mumbai. The officials sealed 7 hotels and seized more than 417 cylinders.

#LatestVisuals of demolition drive by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) against illegal structures in #KamalaMills area of #Mumbai, a fire that broke out here late Thursday night, claimed 14 lives. pic.twitter.com/ZsdFMXY1Ng

— ANI (@ANI) December 30, 2017

Front reception/entrance of restaurant 1Above and Mojo's being demolished by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in its drive against illegal structures in #KamalaMills area of #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/hA8lAGst9k

— ANI (@ANI) December 30, 2017

On Friday, the police had booked the Sanghvi brothers, another co-owner Abhijeet Mankar and others, under IPC sections dealing with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others and causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others. The massive fire had swept through 1Above in downtown Mumbai during a birthday bash before swiftly raging through the building, leaving 14 people dead and 21 injured. 1Above had claimed on Friday that it had all the necessary approvals and safety norms in place. It had blamed Mojo’s Bistro on the floor below for not having an emergency exit, leading to overcrowding of 1Above’s escape avenues. Blaming an adjoining property for the devastating fire, the 1Above management had said: “According to our staff, the fire began to emanate from the adjacent quarters to our premises.” However, it did not name the property from where the fire started. With inputs from PTI