Delhi hotel fire: Court extends owner’s police custody by 2 days

A Delhi court on Monday extended the police custody by two days of the owner of a south Delhi hotel where a fire killed 22 people last week, and remanded another accused, a cook, to 14-day judicial custody.

Judicial Magistrate Bhanu Pratap Singh was hearing Delhi Police’s plea seeking extension of custody of hotel owner Lavkesh Bajaj for further interrogation in the case. Allowing the plea, the court extended Bajaj’s custody by two days and sent cook Keshav Negi to 14-day judicial custody.

Negi was arrested on Saturday with investigators alleging that his negligence played a role in triggering June 3 blaze in Flourish Stays Bed and Breakfast in Malviya Nagar’s Hauz Rani area.

Several other individuals connected with the establishment have also been detained and are being questioned as part of the ongoing investigation into the fire at the hotel.

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Hotel owner Bajaj was earlier arrested and booked under charges including culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The building lacked a fire no-objection certificate, officials said.