Dhaval Thakkar, another main accused in the fatal Rajkot game zone fire, has been arrested in a joint operation between the Rajkot police and Banaskantha Local Crime Branch (LCB), officials said. 

The Abu Road-resident, who fled after the fire, was nabbed in his hometown, an Banaskantha LCB official said.

Three others, Yuvraj Singh Solanki, Nitin Jain and Rahul Rathod, were remanded to 14-day police custody on May 27. Monday also saw seven officials being suspended. Rajkot Police Commissioner Raju Bhargav has also been transferred in the wake of the fire at the TRP gaming zone on May 25, which claimed 28 lives. 

While the state-appointed special investigation team is yet to announce its findings, the gutted game zone on Nana Mava Road was reportedly operating without any permissions or adherence to safety standards such as fire safety and exit-entry gate checks.

Suresh Faldu, vice president of the Rajkot Bar Association (RBA), told Gujarat Samachar, “The RBA has passed a resolution that its members will not provide any of the accused in this case with legal representation.” 

“For years, this game zone has been operating without any licences, and officials have been turning a blind eye to it. They also visited the game zone with their families. So, they cannot claim ignorance regarding the irregularities. Therefore, some people have been suspended, which means that these people are culpable to some extent,” he added.

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