Anaj Mandi Fire: Factory Owner Mohammed Rehan And Manager Furkan Sent To 14 Days Police Custody

A Delhi court on Monday sent the factory owner Mohammed Rehan and factory manager Fukran to 14-day police custody in connection with the the devastating fire accident at a six-storey factory in Delhi’s Anaj Mandi which claimed 43 lives.

43 people were charrred to death a massive blaze ripped through a four-storey building housing illegal manufacturing units in north Delhi's congested Anaj Mandi area on Sunday.

Rehan was arrested by Delhi Police from his relative’s house as he was attempting to flee the city. Rehan was booked by the police under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible mat­ter).

Fukran was a childhood friend of Rehan and they have been working together since 2003. Furkan was arrested from his in-law’s place in Delhi.

According to a report in Indian Express, Mohammad Rehan, had illegally constructed two floors in 2008 and had rented out each floor and individual rooms to 13 people. He charged between Rs 8,000-10,000 per month from each tenant, three of whom also died in the blaze. Though declared as residential in residential, the building illegally housed several manufacturing units operating from inside small rooms.

Police are conducting 3D mapping of the building to recreate the night of horror and ascertain the cause behind the blaze, they said.

Though Rehan had repeatedely claimed that minors were not employed in his building, at least five of the 43 dead were minors.

During questioning by cops, Rehan is said to have disclosed that he has two brothers and two step-brothers. He and his brothers co-own the building that caught fire. He bought it in 2004 and illegally constructed the top two floors without laying a lintel.

Rehan also alleged that he did the illegal construction with the connivance of local engineers of the civic body and local police.