Rajkot blaze: Gujarat HC slams govt, civic body over permits; survivors recount horror

Two days after a massive inferno at a gaming zone in Rajkot left 32 dead, the Gujarat High Court slammed the state government and the Rajkot Municipal Corporation for failing to certify the structure. Noting that at least six such fire tragedies have occurred in the state in the past four years, the court sought to know why its orders and instructions in this regard have not been followed.

Taking suo moto cognisance of the Rajkot fire incident on Sunday (May 26), the court had asked advocates of four major municipal cities – Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot – and the state government to appear before the special bench led by Justice Biren Vaishnav.

‘Have you gone blind?’ HC raps civic body

During the hearing on Monday (May 27), the special bench, which also constituted Justice Devan Desai, lashed out at the state government when the advocate representing the municipal corporation of Rajkot informed that two gaming zones in the city had been operating for over 24 months without the required permits, including fire safety certificates.

“The state government and the local system can no longer be trusted. Were you asleep for 24 months... or have you gone blind?” said Justice Vaishnav during the hearing.

Referring to the many fire-related incidents in the past to point out the negligence of the state machinery and local authorities, the court sought to know why its past orders have not been followed.

6 fire tragedies in 4 years

“We have given many decisions and instructions in the past four years. Even after those six incidents took place in the state – fire at a chemical factory in Surat in November 2023 that killed seven people and injured over 12; fire at a Ahmedabad city multiplex that destroyed the property and injured two employees; fire at an Ahmedabad hospital in July 2023 that forced the evacuation of 125 patients; a massive blaze in firecracker shops in an industrial area of the city in May the same year; another fire incident in March at a hospital in Surat that killed an infant… People are dying as state machinery is not working,” the court said.

In its defence the municipal corporation told the court that the gaming zone in Rajkot did not ask for permission. To this, the court said the corporation was equally responsible to ensure that such gaming zones had proper safeguards including fire safety.

“Even after four years of our order, if no steps were taken in the matter of fire safety, then how is the RMC not responsible?” the court said.

The judges slammed the corporation after they saw photographs of officials at the gaming zone.

“Who were these officers? Did they go there to play?” the court asked.

During the hearing, advocate Manisha Luv Kumar Shah, appearing for the state government, also acknowledged before the special bench that that two popular gaming zones in Ahmedabad have been running without permission to operate apart from three other mini gaming zones inside malls that do not have a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department to operate.

A special investigation team (SIT) led by Additional Director General of Police (CID-crime) Subhash Trivedi has been formed by the state government to probe the accident. The team has been asked to submit a preliminary report within 72 hours followed by a detailed final report within 10 days.

‘Why didn’t gaming zone have fire NOC?’

The high court was enraged when the government informed it that a gaming zone cannot operate without a NOC from the fire department.

“Then this rule was not followed in Rajkot,” the court said.

The government, however, assured the bench that three owners of gaming zones flouting rules have been arrested while the process of taking others in custody was underway.

7 officials suspended

Meanwhile, the Gujarat government has suspended seven officials for dereliction of duty in connection with the Rajkot gaming zone fire. They are police inspectors V R Patel, who was in charge of Rajkot taluka police station in 2023, N I Rathod, who was holding additional charge of the license branch of the Rajkot city police, executive engineers M R Suma and Paras Khothiya of the Roads and Buildings Department, two Rajkot Municipal Corporation staff – assistant engineer Jaydip Chaudhary and assistant town planner Gautam Joshi – and Rohit Vigora, who was in charge of the fire station on Kalavad Road (Rajkot).

Police have also filed an FIR against six people on charges culpable homicide not amounting to murder. One of the co-owners of the gaming zone and a manager of the facility have been arrested so far.

“A complaint has been registered at the Rajkot Taluka Police Station against six accused individuals, including Yuvraj Singh Solanki, the co-owner of the gaming zone and his manager Nitin Jain. The FIR has been filed under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 114 (abettor present when offense is committed) of the Indian Penal Code,” said Raju Bhargav, the Rajkot Commissioner of Police.

“The owners of the TRP gaming zone had submitted bills to the police for fire safety equipment and claimed to have installed such equipment on the premises. But the measures taken were inadequate and ineffective in controlling the situation. Moreover, the process for obtaining the mandatory fire department NOC was underway but had not been completed when the tragic incident took place,” he added.

How the tragedy unfolded

The TRP Gaming Zone located on the outskirts of Rajkot city, witnessed an overwhelming footfall of visitors on May 25, the ill-fated day when the massive fire killed 32.

“The owners had slashed the entry fee to ₹99 from the usual ₹500, aiming to attract more people during the holiday season and the weekend,” said Bhargav.

Adding to that, the gaming zone was operating in a shed-like structure while a three-storey facility was subsequently set up to circumvent municipal approvals. Construction work to expand the gaming zone was underway in one part of the premises. In this part, welding work was being carried out near a pile of wood.

“The fire is likely to have started from a welding spark on a ladder or the pile of wood. There was only a single exit and there were no proper instructions in the event of an emergency or fire and not even a fire extinguisher on the property. There was single staircase for visitors on the second and third floors. This trapped them and led to a higher number of casualties,” said personnel of the fire department in Rajkot.

“At least 40 persons were rescued from the site. We are still bringing out bodies but almost all bodies are charred beyond recognition, so prima facie we are assuming if it was a child or adult by the size of the body. The process of DNA matching for the 32 recovered bodies is currently underway at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Gandhinagar. We will know the identity of the deceased after the DNA results are out,” he added.

Long wait for families

Meanwhile, families of those who had visited the gaming zone have been waiting at the Rajkot Civil hospital for more information as authorities have declared the deceased as ‘missing’ until the DNA results are in hand.

“Five members of our family went to the gaming zone on May 25 – my parents, brother, and my maternal uncle’s family. My parents, uncle and I were sitting in the restaurant when the fire broke out. My two brothers and sister went to the upper floor to play a trampoline game. My father and uncle rushed to the upper floor when the fire broke out, asking me and my mother to run out. But we couldn’t find the exit for a while as everyone was running. It was all chaotic. I lost my mother in the crowd and after a while heard a loud noise from inside,” recalls Devki, the only member of her family to have escaped the fire.

“It is nerve-racking waiting at the hospital for two days now. We don’t know if our family members are amongst the dead or will be rescued. Since all dead bodies and those not found so far have been declared as missing,” said Dhirubhai, 25-year-old Vivek from Gir Somnath district, who was in the gaming zone with his newly-wed wife.