Kamala Mills fire: Three accused produced before Mumbai court

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 22 (ANI): Three people, who were arrested on Saturday in connection with Kamala Mills fire tragedy, were produced before a Mumbai court on Sunday.

The arrested people were identified as Ravi Surajmal Bhandari, partner of Kamala mill, Rajendra Baban Patil, fire officer and Uttkarsh Vinod Pande, supplier and contractor.

The lawyer of one of the accused, Uttkarsh Vinod Pande, said that his client was innocent and allegation levelled against him a wrong.

"They are making a false allegation on my client Uttkarsh Pandey. He was not present at the time of the incident, so he is not responsible for this. He was not even present near the vicinity of the incident spot," advocate Sayaji Nangre said.

Around 14 people were killed and 12 suffered critical injuries in the massive fire that broke out at the Kamala Mills compound in Lower Parel locality in Mumbai in the wee hours of December 29.

The Mumbai Police had earlier arrested two owners of Mojo's Bistro, the restaurant from where the fire triggered and also the son of former Pune police commissioner K K Pathak.

Earlier, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in its reports, had confirmed that the fire started from Mojo's Bistro and spread rapidly to '1 Above' restaurant. (ANI)