Kamala Mills fire tragedy: Police arrest hotelier Vishal Karia, car owned by another accused recovered from him

Meanwhile, Crime Branch officials investigating the Kamla Mills fire fear that the three owners of pub 1Above, Jigar Sanghvi, Kripesh Sanghvi and Abhijit Mankar, may have fled to Dubai. An investigating officer said the trio could have escaped via Nepal and are suepected to be hiding at their father Mansukh Sanghvi’s residence in Dubai. One Sanghvi brother named Ankit also lives in Dubai, said an officer.

Vishal Karia (Source: Facebook)

Read | Kamala Mills fire: 1 Above managers sent to custody till Jan 22, no relief for owner of Mojo’s Bistro

Investigators believe Mansukh has been hiding in Dubai since 2015 when he was booked in a hawala case in Surat by the Enforcement Directorate.

According to investigators, Jigar and Kripesh’s uncle Mahendra Sanghvi, booked for shielding the Sanghvi brothers, was trying to coax the duo to surrender. “But after they consulted an advocate they changed their mind, following which the duo fled along with their friend Mankar,” said an officer.

On Tuesday, Karia was nabbed from his Juhu residence. An officer said, “We got a tip-off that on January 3, Mankar’s Audi car was seen being driven in Juhu. A team was instantly dispatched and the car was seized. Karia was brought to the police station for interrogation, following which the car was also seized.”

Maria has reportedly told the police that Mankar’s car was handed over to him by Kripesh Sanghvi at 3.30 am on December 29, hours after the fire broke out.

Read | Kamala Mills compound fire: Police question company that supplied hookah to resto-bar

Fourteen people including 11 women and one staff member died in the fire inside the Kamala Mills Compound on December 29. The police has booked the owners of two resto-bars – 1 Above and Mojo’s Bistro — in the case. While Mojo’s Bistro owner Yug Pathak, son of retired IPS officer KK Pathak, has been arrested in the case, his co-owner Yug Tuli was refused interim relief from arrest by a Mumbai court. All three owners of 1 Above, Abhijeet Mankar, Kripesh and Jigar Sanghavi, are still at large. Earlier, the police had arrested two managers at 1Above – Kevin Bawa and Libson Lopez – who are now in judicial custody.

Last week, the Mumbai announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for anyone with information on Abhijeet Mankar, Kripesh and Jigar Sanghvi.

On Monday, a police team was dispatched to Kolkata where Tulli is believed to be.

The Mumbai Police has now roped in senior counsel Prakash Shetty to assist investigators in the Kamala Mills fire case.

Officials said the decision to rope in Shetty was owing to the fact that the fire, in which 14 people died, is a high profile case and the police is keen to make sure there are no lapses in evidence collection. The lawyer’s expertise will be sought at the pre-trial stage and also during the course of the trial.

“Having a lawyer on board during the pre-trial stage will help guide the team on the evidence that they need to collect. His expertise will also be sought while preparing the chargesheet and with the lawyer guiding the legal aspects of the investigations, it will become easier for the prosecutor during the trial,” added the official. Shetty is currently the National Investigation Agency’s counsel in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.