Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel visited the incident site and the hospital to meet the injured on Sunday morning. He announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for each injured person.
In Rajkot, Gujarat, police arrested the operator and a manager of the 'TRP Game Zone' on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder following a fire that killed at least 32 people, including 9 children. The investigation revealed that the game zone did not have a fire no-objection certificate (NOC). Meanwhile, a CCTV footage of the fire outbreak at the gaming site went viral on social media, showing the fire starting during welding work. A spark from the welding ignited a pile of plastic, leading to the blaze.
Workers present tried to extinguish the fire but failed, and the entire gaming zone was engulfed. The authenticity of this video as being from the game zone has not yet been confirmed.
Rajkot Police Commissioner Raju Bhargava informed reporters that the local police issued a booking license for the gaming zone in November 2023, which was renewed for the period from January 1 to December 31, 2024. The gaming zone had obtained permission from the road and building department and had submitted fire safety equipment proof to obtain the NOC, but this process was still ongoing and not yet completed. He stated that the game zone had fire safety equipment, but the action taken to control the fire was inadequate, leading to the tragedy on Saturday.
The FIR noted that the accused individuals had built a two-three storey high, 50-meter wide, and 60-meter long structure using metal sheet fabrication for the game zone. They lacked proper fire-fighting equipment and had not obtained an NOC from the local fire department. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Parthrajsinh Gohil said that Yuvraj Singh Solanki, a partner at Raceway Enterprise operating the TRP Game Zone, and its manager Nitin Jain had been arrested.
The FIR registered by Rajkot Taluka police on Sunday named six people, including Dhaval Corporation owner Dhaval Thakker, Raceway Enterprise partners Ashok Singh Jadeja, Kirit Singh Jadeja, Prakashchand Hiran, Yuvraj Singh Solanki, and Rahul Rathore. The case is filed against these known individuals and others whose names emerged during the investigation.
The accused are charged under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 337 (causing hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 114 (abettor present when the offence is committed) of the Indian Penal Code.
The case investigation has been handed over to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Joint Additional Police Commissioner Vidhi Chaudhary of Rajkot Police Crime Branch. The Gujarat government also formed a five-member SIT led by Additional Director General of Police Subhash Trivedi to investigate the incident.
The search for missing persons continues, with the relatives of those still unaccounted for in deep distress. Several unclaimed bodies remain at Rajkot Civil Hospital.
Additionally, read about the dark side of the baby care center and the negligence that cost the lives of 7 infants.
