Building owner held for PG mishap

Chandigarh, February 27

Four days after three girls were killed in a fire incident at an unregistered PG in Sector 32, the UT police today arrested the building owner.

The police said Gaurav Aneja, a Sector 30 resident, was arrested from Sector 32.

This is the second arrest made by the police in the incident. Earlier, one of the PG operators, Nitish Bansal, was arrested a few hours after the incident was reported. Bansal’s partner Nitish Popli, is still at large.

Police officials said raids were being conducted at various places in Chandigarh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to nab Popli.

On the day of the incident, the police had received a call at 3.58 pm, following which fire engines and police teams were rushed to the spot. Five PG residents were trapped in the house, of whom two had managed to escape after jumping from the first floor, while the remaining three girls lost their lives.

During an inspection of the building, it was found that the temporary fibre partition and temporary wooden structures were constructed to accommodate maximum students without providing proper ventilation, fire extinguisher and emergency exit that led to the tragic incident.

The three were booked under Sections 304, 336 and 36 of the IPC at the Sector 34 police station. — TNS