3 min readNew DelhiJun 5, 2026 07:31 AM IST
First published on: Jun 5, 2026 at 07:30 AM IST
Maintaining that the police custody of Luvkesh Bajaj, the owner of Flourish Stay B&B — where a fire had claimed 21 lives on Wednesday — was necessary to trace the persons whose role has surfaced during investigation, the Saket court on Thursday sent him to four days of police custody.
Police had sought Bajaj’s custody to “ascertain and verify the details of all workers, employees and other persons engaged in the operation of Flourish Stay” and to “trace, locate and apprehend Jay Mishra, accountant of the establishment and Rakesh, manager of the hotel”.
“Hotel staff needs to be probed, accused has only given two names of staff, hasn’t disclosed the rest. The hotel was allowed to operate only six rooms, but it was running more than 20,” Additional Public Prosecutor Gaurav Srivastava argued in court.
“In 2024, another FIR was registered against him over the same premises. Forensic examination is still pending as the team couldn’t enter the premises due to extreme heat. There was gross negligence by the accused,” he added.
After hearing arguments from the police and the defense counsel, Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Bhanu Pratap Singh of Saket Court sent Bajaj to four-day police custody.
“…the police custody of accused is also necessary to trace, locate and apprehend the persons whose role has surfaced during investigation. Further, the police custody of the accused is also necessary to recover the relevant documents related to the operation of the property in question. Further police custody of accused is also necessary to recover electronic devices and digital evidence connected with the case,” JMFC Singh said.
Advocate Nitin Ahlawat, who appeared for Bajaj, argued, “We are pained because of the incident because he is also a victim. A copy of the FIR has not been supplied to the accused. Neither have the grounds of arrest been supplied. The accused is also a victim as his building was affected. The allegations and attributed roles must be clearly specified by the police.”
These are the nine Indians who were killed in the fire:
Vivek Aggrawal: In his late 40s, Vivek was chartered accountant and Deputy CFO at InsuranceDekho. Had moved to Gurgaon with his family in 2019.
Tarjani Aggrawal: Vivek’s wife, an event planner, was identified through her jewellery.
Jivisha Aggrawal: The couple’s 20-year-old daughter, was a BTech first-year student studying in Bengaluru and had reached Delhi on Tuesday, a day before the blaze.
Varya Aggrawal: The couple’s 16-year-old daughter, a student of Class 11.
Hemlata Aggrawal: Vivek’s mother, Hemlata’s husband Radhe Shyam Aggarwal has been admitted in the Max Hospital Saket ICU for several days now in a critical condition.
Ashok Goyal: Vivek’s maternal uncle had come from Kishangarh to visit Radhe Shyam.
Kamala: Vivek’s mother’s sister was visiting Radhe Shyam from Ajmer.
Jhimri: Kamala’s husband who had come from Ajmer.
Shrutika Baranwal: TISS graduate whose convocation was scheduled for July 26. She had
recently got a job.
The South Delhi hotel fire that claimed 21 lives was prima facie caused by a short circuit, police said. (PTI Photo) 
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