The Mumbai Police on Tuesday arrested hotelier Vishal Kariya in connection with the Kamala Mills fire incident on December 28 that killed 14 people, PTI reported. “Vishal Kariya, who owns hotels and pubs in the city, was placed under arrest after a team of NM Joshi Marg Police took him for questioning,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Akhilesh Mishra told the agency.
Mishra said that the interrogators found that Kariya had provided refuge to Kripesh Sanghvi, Jigar Sanghvi and Abhijeet Mankar – the owners of the 1Above restaurant at Kamala Mills. The officer added that the police found a car that Mankar owned outside Kariya’s residence.
The Sanghvi brothers and Mankar have been missing since December 29, the morning after the deadly blaze. They have been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and the Mumbai Police have announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for their whereabouts.
On January 2, the owners had written to President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and top Maharashtra Police officials claiming that the blaze began at Mojo’s Bistro, an adjoining restaurant. After the Mumbai Police corroborated this claim, the police arrested one of the owners of Mojo’s Bistro on Saturday.
On January 1, the Mumbai Police had arrested two managers of 1Above as they fled the restaurant on the night of the fire and did not help the customers. A local court in Mumbai earlier on Tuesday sent Kevin Bawa and Lisbon Lopez, the managers, to judicial custody till January 22.
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