NEW DELHI, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Indian police on Tuesday arrested a owner of a pub in financial capital Mumbai in connection with a deadly midnight fire last month which claimed at least 14 lives, mostly young women, and injured scores.
Yug Tuli, the co-owner of Mojo's Bistro -- one of the two pubs at Kamala Mills shopping compound where the fire broke out -- had been on the run since the incident on Dec. 29. His partner Yug Pathak at Mojo's Bistro and three owners of the other pub -- 1 Above -- are already in custody. All of them have been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
"We have arrested Tuli after he surrendered at N.M. Joshi Marg police station," S. Jaykumar, Additional Commissioner of Mumbai Police, told the media.
Police had initially booked only the three owners of 1 Above, but included the names of the two owners of Mojo's Bistro later. This was after a fire department probe revealed that the blaze first began at Mojo's Bistro and then spread to 1 Above rooftop restaurant, engulfing both the structures within minutes, trapping many inside.
Fires are common in eateries and buildings in India, mainly because of lack of regards for safety norms and fire-fighting equipment like hosepipes and alarm systems. A number of lives are lost every year in fire incidents in this country.
