Two arrested in connection with Mukherjee Nagar coaching centre fire

Two men have been arrested in connection with the Mukherjee Nagar coaching institute fire incident, a Delhi Police official said on Friday.

A case was registered at Mukherjee Nagar police station after the fire in Bhandari House, Batra Complex.

"The case was filed under Sections 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others), 337 (causing hurt by endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by endangering life or personal safety of others), 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Northwest, Jitendra Meena said.

As part of the investigation, statements were recorded from 12 students and four staff members.

"Consequently, two men identified as Shivesh Mishra, 45, a resident of Mukherjee Nagar, and Shyam Sunder Bharti, 54, a resident of Model Town, have been arrested in connection with the case. They were later released on bail by a court," the DCP said.

The police revealed that both arrested individuals were associated with coaching institutes operating within the building. One of them is the CEO of one institute, while the other is the owner of a different coaching institute.

Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Fire Service, Police and Municipal Corporation of Delhi in the Mukherjee Nagar fire incident, which took place after a fire broke out at the Sanskriti Coaching Centre.

A vacation bench of Justices Jasmeet Singh and Vikas Mahajan directed the Delhi Fire Service to conduct a fire safety audit and to check whether fire safety certificates were issued or not and sought a response within two weeks, in the suo motu case.

According to police, on Thursday a PCR call was received at the Mukherjee Nagar police station regarding fire inside the Bhandari House building near Batra Complex, following which a police team was rushed to the spot.

"The rescue work commenced immediately. About 10 fire tenders and 16 CAT ambulances also reached there," said the officer.

"The fire was extinguished and the students from the first and second floors were rescued," he said.

"The place of occurrence was inspected and photographed by the district crime team. The place of occurrence was also inspected by the forensic team from Rohini. Around 200-250 students of different coaching centres were attending classes at the time of incident. A total of 61 students were injured in the incident," said the officer.

As per the police, the preliminary inquiry revealed that there was fire in the electric meters installed on the ground floor of the building. (IANS/NS)