Rakesh Goel was arrested from the IGI Airport on Saturday.
The crime branch of Delhi police have arrested the owner of Hotel Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh area of the national capital where the fire incident had taken place in which 17 people had died from IGI airport on Saturday night. Police said they had they had informed the airport officials about the look out order against the owner .
According to the police, the accused has been identified as Rakesh Goel and was arrested from the IGI Airport on Saturday after the Delhi Police received a tip-off that Goel was travelling from Qatar by Indigo flight 6E 1702. Goel was arrested after brief questioning, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Deo said. He will be produced in court on Sunday.
The Crime Branch had on Thursday issued a lookout circular against the Goel and his brother Shardendu Goel to alert the immigration officers, informing them that the duo was wanted by the police.
According to the fire services, the tragedy could have been averted had the fire alarms been functional and the fire exits not blocked at the hotel.
This is the third arrest in the hotel fire case. Earlier, the general manager, Rajender Kumar and manager, Vikas Kumar Takkal were arrested for culpable homicide, the police said.
Investigators are now looking into the possibility of a deliberate attempt at aggravating the fire inside the hotel to settle an insurance claim by the owner.
"The owner had a huge debt of Rs. 56 crore, which they were unable to repay. Their hotel had not been doing well since last year and he had tried to sell it. The e-auction bid of Rs. 27 crore did not materialize. The next auction bid was due on March 31," General Secretary of Delhi Hotels Mahasangh, Arun Kumar told reporters.
The investigating team recreated the scene and matched the sequence and evidence with the timings of the fire incident.
Blaming the hotel management for delay in reporting the fire, Chief Fire Officer Atul Garg said: "During the investigation, it was found that there were lapses on the part of the hotel management as they did not initially inform the control room of Delhi Fire Service (DFS) about the fire in real time.”
"They informed us at 4:35 am when flames spread across a major portion of the hotel from the second floor to first and fourth including the top floor cafeteria," he said.
"After sensing the gravity of fire that reached the top floor, the firefighters later took the help of a hydraulic fire engine and rescued the trapped victims after breaking the window panes," Garg added.
"Prima facie, some lapses were found on the part of the hotel management as the emergency exit was also blocked from inside," Deputy Commissioner of Police Mandeep Singh Randhawa said.
The dead included at least four women, 10 men, a hotel cook, and a child who could not escape the leaping flames and the thick smoke in the hotel in the commercial-cum-residential district of Karol Bagh
Fire safety certificates of 14 more hotels and guesthouses have been suspended after violations were found during inspection said Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain on Sunday.
Earlier Delhi government on Saturday cancelled the No Objection Certificate (NOC) given to 30 hotels in the vicinity following the fire tragedy. The government has also instructed the fire safety department to inspect all hotels in Delhi to check if the safety norms are being followed.
The NOC was granted to 45 hotels in Karol Bagh and nearby areas out of which 30 have been cancelled. Delhi Cabinet Minister Satyendra Jain has also issued a notice to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi regarding this matter.
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