Rajkot fire chief caught ‘taking bribe’ weeks after assuming charge, arrested

A team led by R N Virani, police inspector in charge of the ACB police station in Jamnagar, laid a trap in the RMC headquarters after a contractor alleged that Maru had demanded a Rs 5-lakh bribe for granting fire-safety clearance to a building. In his complaint to the ACB, the contractor stated that he had installed a fire-fighting system in a building and then approached the office of the chief fire officer seeking clearance.

“However, when the complainant went to the accused, the accused sought Rs 3-lakh illegal bribe from the complainant. The complainant paid Rs1.2 lakh at relevant time, while the accused demanded that the balance Rs 1.8 lakh be paid to him within five days. The complainant didn’t want to pay the bribe and had therefore approached Jamnagar ACB,” an official press release said.

“The accused was detained from the spot after he talked with respect to the Rs 1.8-lakh bribe, demanded and accepted it,” the ACB further said in the release.

ACB officers said they were conducting searches at places associated with Maru.

The action by the anti-graft watchdog against Maru comes less than two months after he assumed charge as Rajkot’s chief fire officer in-charge. He was appointed to the post on June 29 after Ilesh Kher was arrested by police on June 22.

Bhikha Theba, who was the then deputy chief fire officer, was arrested by the ACB on June 6 for allegedly acquiring disproportionate assets worth Rs 79.94 lakh between 2012 and 2024. Theba, who had served as chief fire officer in-charge before Kher was appointed in 2020, was also arrested in the TRP fire case on June 22. Both were eventually suspended.

With Maru’s arrest and imminent suspension from the service, Rajkot has now lost five top officers of the fire service to reasons that include removals, and resignations, in a matter of just three months.

This caused the loss of both the top ranking officers of the Rajkot Fire and Emergency Services, leaving only Station Officers (STOs) to run the entire department in one of the four major cities of Gujarat, and that too just a month after a major tragedy. Thus STO Amit Dave was made in-charge Deputy CFO.

However, on June 15, 2024 the RMC relieved Dave from the additional responsibility, giving the interim charge of Deputy CFO to another station officer, STO Hardik Gadhvi.

On June 28 upon a request from RMC, the Gujarat State Fire Prevention Service (GSFPS) sent Maru to take interim charge as CFO of Rajkot city.

However, Gadhvi did not assume charge but opted for voluntary retirement. It was then that Maru, who was the fire officer of Bhuj in Kutch district, was appointed in Rajkot. His appointment had come amid a crackdown by the RMC on buildings not compliant with fire safety norms. The civic body had sealed dozens of buildings in the aftermath of the TRP Game Zone fire.

Incidentally, Rohit Vigora, officer in charge of the Kalavad Road fire station in the city, was arrested by police for his alleged inaction against TRP Game Zone, which had been functioning without fire clearance.

With Maru’s arrest both the top posts of the Rajkot Fire Service are vacant once again.