Cook arrested in deadly Delhi hotel fire case, claims blaze ‘began after spark in fryer’

DElhi law on sat arrested a make workings at the Hauz ranee bed-and-breakfast facility in connection with the fire that killed 21 people earlier this week, with a court later sending him to two days in custody — even as the precise cause of the blaze remained contested, the accused’s own account to investigators placing the origin in the kitchen while his counsel told court the fire was the result of an electrical short circuit elsewhere in the building.Keshav Negi, 65, was arrested on Saturday morning after being detained on Friday. Deputy commissioner of police (south) Anant Mittal confirmed the arrest. Negi, who lives in Shahdara’s Dilshad Garden, had been working at Flourish Stay B&B in Malviya Nagar’s Hauz Rani for over a year, police said.During interrogation, Negi told police he was cooking in the kitchen on the ground floor at around 8:30am on Wednesday when he saw a spark in a fryer, which subsequently caught fire, Mittal said. He fled the B&B without helping anyone, the official said. His counsel, however, told the Saket court that the fire had started due to an electrical short circuit and not from the kitchen “as being portrayed by police.”The remand order was passed by a magistrate court. Additional public prosecutor Gaurav Shrivastav told the court that Negi — knowing several guests were lodged at the facility— was the first to run from the premises when fire broke out, without informing the police or fire service.A senior police officer, who did not wish to be named, said Negi claimed to have called the hotel’s manager, Rupesh, after leaving the premises to inform him of the fire. The claim is being verified against his call records. Rupesh and the another manager-cum-accountant Jay Mishra—on whose name the B&B licence was issued—are both absconding.According to the senior officer, Negi disclosed that the restaurant on the premises — Snacks and Bites — offered a full menu of food items that needed to be cooked and drinks, with a seating capacity of 30 people.Negi’s arrest comes after police arrested Lovkesh Bajaj, the owner and beneficiary of Flourish Stay. Both have been booked under charges including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, rash or negligent acts endangering human life, and mischief by fire or explosive substances, at Malviya Nagar Police Station.The arrests have, however, prompted questions about whether the investigation is adequately focused on the systemic failures that allowed the establishment to operate in consistent breach of fire safety and licensing norms and those who played a crucial role in such lapses being allowed to exist — instead of people like Negi.Retired IPS officer Rajan Bhagat, who has served as a deputy commissioner of police, raised questions on the arrest. “Police have arrested the chef of the B&B but how can he be held responsible for his master’s misdeeds? While his act of negligence must not be ignored if he had ignored to raise the alarm. He is the smallest fish in the pond. There is a bigger problem here—a host of violations and a larger crime investigation is required to actually make some difference.”Those violations, as the investigation has revealed, were extensive. Flourish Stay was operating 25 guest rooms — far beyond the six permitted under its bed-and-breakfast licence — and lacked basic fire safety measures, including a dedicated fire exit.Two nearby properties also linked to Bajaj, Flourish Inn and Green Residency, were similarly operating as full-fledged hotels despite being registered under the B&B scheme.