The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has nabbed the fourth accused nearly a year after a massive fire at a four-storey building in north Delhi's Anaj Mandi area, which had claimed 45 lives, who were mostly labourers.
Police had earlier arrested three accused — the building's owner Rehan, his manager Furkaan and another man named Mohammad Suhail -- in connection with the case. The fourth accused has been identified as Mohammad Imraan, who is Rehan's brother and partly owns the building.
Imraan was absconding since the day of the incident and was carrying a reward of Rs 50,000, police said.
On December 8 last year, a massive fire had ripped through a four-storey building housing illegal manufacturing units in north Delhi's congested Anaj Mandi area, killing 45 people including nine minors and injuring 21 others, including six minors.
Almost all the deceased were migrant labourers hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh who stayed as well as worked inside the building. After the incident, a case had been registered at Sadar Bazar police station which was later transferred to the Crime Branch.
According to B K Singh, the additional Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, on Saturday, police team received specific inputs that Imraan would be coming to Delhi to attend a family function.
“Acting on the specific inputs a trap was laid and Imraan was apprehended near Rameshwar Nagar in Azadpur. The building that had caught fire comprised of two adjacent properties, both of which are interconnected. The property is jointly owned by Imraan and his brother Rehan and was purchased in 2007. At that time, the building was only two-storey high but later, it was converted into a five-storey building,” said the additional CP.
“The two brothers had rented out the building to various entities and a number of small manufacturing units were running inside illegally. Imraan is the owner of the ground, fourth and fifth floor of one of the properties at Anaj Mandi that caught fire and ran a small manufacturing unit on the ground floor where plastic plates, mugs, stools and hangers were made,” said the additional CP.
“The rest of the property had been rented out by him. After the fire incident, he had been hiding and living with his relatives in Meerut, Agra, Raipur, Ajmer and Seelampur in Delhi. Imraan has been taken into five days police remand for further investigation,” the additional CP added.