Prime accused in Rajkot TRP game zone fire incident arrested

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Police from Rajkot and the Banaskantha Local Crime Branch detained the primary suspect in the TRP gaming zone fire incident on Sunday, according to the police. Abu Road resident Dhaval Thakkar has been named as the culprit. Following the game zone fire, which left 28 people dead, he had left.

A Rajkot district court on Monday placed three individuals who had been detained concerning the game zone fire on a 14-day police detention, according to an ANI report. Special public prosecutor Tushar Gokani stated that the court of additional judicial magistrate BP Thakar remanded three accused - Yuvraj Hari Singh Solanki, Nitin Jain, and Rahul Rathod - into police custody for two weeks.

Speaking to the media on Monday, Special Public Prosecutor Tushar Gokani said, "Today the accused were brought before the honourable court and further police custody of 14 days was sought. Out of 6 accused named in the FIR, 3 accused persons were arrested, of which two are named in the FIR and one of them was not named."

"The main grounds for remanding were that they were not cooperating during the investigation. They (the accused) are giving 'evasive replies' to whatever questions are asked and whatever documents are asked. They are saying it was burnt in the incident. They are not cooperating in the investigation and that was the main ground--to seek their cooperation and elicit the truth from them," said the official.

"We told the court that the main accused are on the run, and these accused persons make evasive replies and are not cooperating with the investigating agencies," Gokani said.

He said that the accused Solanki, tried to put up an act in his bid to express before the court that he was filled with remorse for whatever happened. "When he entered the court, he tried to project that he had remorse for the incident and everyone felt that he was crying. After five minutes, he was laughing and arguing with the court," Gokani said.

"This very accused seemed like he was crying as soon as he entered the court but in just a few minutes he started laughing and he said that 'these kinds of things happen,' which was taken in a serious note by the honourable court," said Gokani.

Seven officials were suspended by the Gujarat government for failing to perform their duties concerning the fire incident at a Rajkot gaming zone. These officials included two police inspectors and civic staff members of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation. All of Vadodara's gaming areas were inspected and briefly closed after the incident.

(With Inputs from ANI)