Father-son arrested in Garib Nagar fire case

The Nirmal Nagar police have arrested a father and son in connection with the fire at Garib Nagar slum in Bandra East, which gutted over 100 hutments in October last year.

The incident occurred during a demolition drive carried out by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The accused have been identified as Salim Sayyad alias Salim Lightwala, and his son Salman. The police had earlier arrested Shabbir Khan in the case.

Hundreds of families were affected by the fire which broke out on October 26, when the BMC was demolishing illegal hutments on the directions of the Bombay High Court.

According to the police, the duo along with Khan planned to halt the demolition and set the hutments on fire. The police said, Khan had poured kerosene on the roofs of hutments and Lightwala opened a gas cylinder to let it blow up to bring the demolition drive to a halt. The accused opened the gas cylinder after officials reached the area to demolish illegal hutments.

The duo is history-sheeters and has committed similar offenses before as well. "Salman Lightwala is suspected to have set a gas cylinder on fire that started a massive blaze in the Garib Nagar slums. Salim Lightwala is the main accused in the case," said a police officer. "The accused were hiding at Nalasopara and few other places," said Subhash Jadhav Senior police Inspector of Nirmal Nagar police station. The inferno also damaged ticketing equipment at Bandra station located adjacent to the slums.