The main accused in the Rajkot gaming zone fire tragedy, which accounted for the death of 28 people, has been arrested, the police said on Monday.
Dhawal Thakkar was arrested from Abu Road in Rajasthan.
The police received information that he had been hiding at his relative’s house in Rajasthan.
A local court earlier in the day sent three men, arrested in connection with the game zone fire, to police custody for 14 days.
The Gujarat High Court earlier in the day rapped the state government and local body over their lapses.
The court ripped apart the local body and state government, both ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), over the operation of the two gaming zones for about two years each without required permits.
The high court stated, as quoted by NDTV, “This has been going on for two-and-a-half years (referring to the Rajkot gaming zone). Are we to assume you turned a blind eye? What do you and your followers do?”
The court came down heavily upon the government after a few Rajkot municipal body officers were seen at the gaming stations.
“Who were these officers? Did they go there to play?” the court asked.
In a fiery remark, it added, “Have you gone blind? Did you fall asleep? Now we do not trust the local system and the state.”
The gaming zone, called TRP, was packed with visitors due to a weekend discount offer with tickets priced at just INR 99 (USD 1.19) when the fire broke out.
It is suspected that the fire might have started due to a short circuit, but officials said that the exact cause will be known only after a probe.
The intensity of the fire was such that smoke was visible from several kilometers away.
The bodies were charred beyond recognition, officials said.
The DNA samples of the bodies have been collected for identification.
The owner and manager of the TRP game zone were detained.
