SURAT: Crime branch arrested Atul Gorswala, junior engineer of
Surat Municipal Corporation
(SMC), on Wednesday in connection with his role in the Takshashila
Arcade fire that had killed 22 people, mostly students., on May 24.
Gorsawala had approved the plan of construction of the dome under impact fee scheme on top of the building. Gorsawala was on the run ever since he was booked by police after parents of the victims demanded that he be probed.
Gorsawala, who was nabbed by the crime branch team near his house, had withdrawn his anticipatory bail plea from the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday fearing dismissal. He was given protection against arrest by the court earlier after he had filed for anticipatory bail, police informed.
Police sources said that Gorsawala had approved the proposal for impact fee of dome over Takshashila Arcade. “The developers had lied that the dome was constructed before March 2011, the cut-off date for regularizing illegal structures by paying the impact fee. It was constructed after the cut-off date but approved by Gorsawala along with other accused officers without spot visit,” said a crime branch officer.
Gorsawala was posted in Varachha zone during the period when impact fee cases were approved.
So far, police have arrested 11 accused in the cashe. These include Bhargav Butani, owner of the coaching class students whose students died in the fire, Jignal alias Jignesh Paghdar, administrator of the building, Harskukh Vekariya, one of the owners of the building, Kirti Mod, fire officer, Sanjay Acharya, deputy chief fire officer, Ravindra Kahar, one of the owners of building, Dipak Naik, deputy engineer of DGVCL, Parag Munshi and Jayesh Solanki, executive engineers of SMC, Vinu K Parmar, deputy engineer and Savji Paghdar, one of the owners of the building.
Two other accused Himanshu Gajjar, retired junior engineer from SMC and Dinesh Vekariya, one of the owners are yet to get arrested.