The main accused in the Rajkot TRP game zone fire incident was on Sunday arrested by the Rajkot police and Banaskantha Local Crime Branch police from Rajasthan. The prime accused, identified as Dhaval Thakkar, is a resident of Abu Road, Rajasthan. Following the incident that claimed 28 lives, he had fled the incident spot and had been absconding since then.
Earlier, three men were arrested in connection with the game zone fire and remanded to a 14-day police custody by a court in the Rajkot district on Monday.
3 Other Accused Remanded To 14-Day Police Custody
Additional judicial magistrate BP Thakar remanded the three accused, Yuvraj Hari Singh Solanki, Nitin Jain and Rahul Rathod, in police custody for two weeks, special public prosecutor Tushar Gokani told news agency ANI.
Special Public Prosecutor Tushar Gokani stated: "Today the accused were brought before the honourable court and further police custody of 14 days was sought. Out of 6 accused named in the FIR, 3 accused persons were arrested, of which two are named in the FIR and one of them was not named."
"The main ground of remand was that they were not cooperating during the investigation. They (the accused) are giving 'evasive replies'
to whatever questions are asked and whatever documents are asked. They are saying it was burnt in the incident. They are not cooperating in the investigation and that was the main ground--to seek their cooperation and elicit the truth from them," the official stated.
"We told the court that the main accused are on the run, and these accused persons make evasive replies and are not cooperating with the investigating agencies," Gokani added.
The Special Public Prosecutor said that the prime accused Solanki had tried putting up an act to express before the court that he was guilty for whatever happened.
'These Kinds Of Things Happen': Prime Accused Before Court
"When he entered the court, he tried to project that he had remorse for the incident and everyone felt that he was crying. After five minutes, he was laughing and arguing with the court," Gokani said.
Gokani also said that Thakkar seemed like he was crying when he entered the court. However, in just a few minutes he began laughing and stated "these kinds of things happen."
His statement was taken in a serious note by the honourable court, Gokani said.
Earlier, the Gujarat government also ordered the suspension of seven officials, including two police inspectors and civic staff of Rajkot Municipal Corporation, for dereliction of duty in connection with the fire incident at a gaming zone in Rajkot.