Shoe factory fire: Delhi police arrest two

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Friday arrested the owner and the manager-cum-director of Pinky Porsh Private Limited in the Peeragarhi factory fire case. Narinder Singla and Subhash Khullar have been booked for causing death due to negligence. Ten people were burnt alive in the fire on Thursday.
"We have arrested Singla and Khullar as they were unable to produce a no-objection certificate (NOC) certificate.They've claimed it was burnt in the fire. The 10 bodies that were recovered on Thursday have been identified and their post-mortem conducted," said additional commissioner of police (west) V Renganathan.
According to fire officials, no NOC was ever issued to the factory. "The factory had never sought an NOC. The entire building was stacked with cartons and slippers that blocked the exits. There were serious flouting of fire safety norms by the factory owners and they should have not blocked all the windows and doors. There was no way for the labourers to escape and the lone staircase at the back was filled with smoke. The iron grilles on top of the wall made it impossible for them to jump to the terraces of the nearby buildings. Our firefighters had a tough time as a result," said a senior fire officer.
Cooling and search operations continued through Friday, 48 hours after the fire was first reported. "A part of the rear portion of the building had collapsed during the rescue operations on Thursday night. This impeded our rescue operations for a while and we had to clear the rubble. Our work will continue for at least one more day," said another officer.
The factory was functioning for 15 years, said the police. "Usually no factory can start without a fire safety certificate. This factory has, however, been functioning for the past 15 years," said a senior police officer.
The deceased who were taken to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital mortuary have been identified as Rajkumar, Bittoo, Manoj, Ajay, Ravi, Mohammad Sajjat, Mohammad Sattar, Sunil, Chandrashekhar and Anil, said the police. "Some of the bodies have been handed over to the family members and their last rites conducted," said a hospital official.
The report of the magisterial inquiry ordered by the Delhi government to look into the cause of the fire is awaited. The chief minister directed deputy commissioner (west) G S Meena on Thursday to submit his report within 15 days.