Co-owner of gaming arcade among 33 killed in Rajkot fire

The Rajkot Police on Wednesday said that a co-owner of the gaming arcade that caught fire in the Gujarat city was among 33 persons who were killed in the blaze, The Indian Express reported.

The fire broke out on Saturday evening at a temporary structure at the TRP Game Zone. While locals said that the blaze spread quickly following a short circuit in an air conditioner, officials said that a more detailed investigation was required. Nine children were killed in the fire.

The police had earlier named co-owner Prakashchand Hiran, alias Prakash Jain, among the six partners of the arcade in the first information report registered after the fire.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Parthrajsinh Gohil, who is also supervising the Special Investigation Team probing the criminal case registered after the fire, on Wednesday said that they initally suspected that Hiran had been killed in the incident. “That has now been proven confirmed by DNA testing,” he said.

Hiran’s brother had on Tuesday submitted a missing person’s complaint, said Assistant Commissioner Bharat Basiya. “Subsequently, DNA samples of their mother were taken for identification of those killed in the fire,” Basiya said.

“DNA of the mother matched with that extracted from the bodies of one of the victims, confirming the body was of Hiran and that he was dead,” Basiya said.

Hiran, who was from Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district, held a 60% stake in the gaming arcade, he added.

Meanwhile, the Rajkot Police on Tuesday arrested Kiritsinh Jadeja, the co-owner of the plot where the gaming arcade was set up, The Indian Express reported.

“We picked up Kiritsinh Jadeja on Tuesday evening from Rajkot and arrested him formally at 10.30 pm,” Basiya said.

With this, the total number of arrests made so far in the case increased to four.

The police had earlier arrested the owner of the gaming zone, Yuvraj Hari Singh Solanki, and its manager, Nitin Jain.