Rajkot Game Zone Fire: Court Issues Notice on Plea to Accuse IPS, IAS Officers

A court in Gujarat’s Rajkot has sought a report from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the TRP game zone fire in response to a plea seeking criminal charges against certain IPS and IAS officers who were transferred and others who were suspended following the tragedy.

The ‘criminal inquiry plea’ demands First Information Reports (FIRs) against the then Rajkot police commissioner Raju Bhargava, municipal commissioner Anand Patel, two transferred IPS officers, and nine officials who were suspended after the incident on May 25, which resulted in 27 deaths.

Additional judicial magistrate B.P. Thakar issued a notice to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Wednesday, requesting a status report of its ongoing inquiry against all the officials by June 20, according to lawyer Rajesh Jalu, representing petitioner Vinesh Chhaya. The petition argued that the grounds for transferring or suspending these officials were sufficient to warrant an FIR.

Charges Sought Under IPC Sections

The petitioner sought an FIR against these officials under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (causing hurt by a rash or negligent act endangering human life or the safety of others), and 338 (causing grievous hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety).

“The reason for filing this present complaint has also arisen because 27 persons have died and others were injured due to their carelessness in duties,” the plea stated. The petition further noted that the TRP game zone had been operating for the last three to four years without any permissions or licence.

Officials Under Scrutiny

In addition to Bhargava, then Rajkot Deputy Commissioner of Police Sudhirkumar Desai and Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vidhi Choudhary, as well as then Municipal Commissioner Anand Patel, were transferred and placed on a waiting list for postings two days after the incident.

The suspended civic officials include chief fire officer Ilesh Kher, deputy chief fire officer Bhikhabhai Theba, assistant engineer Jaideep Chaudhary, assistant town planner Gautam Joshi, fire station officer Rahit Vigora, deputy executive engineer of the roads and buildings department M.R. Suma, then assistant engineer Paras Kothia, and police inspectors V.R. Patel and N.I. Rathod.

In a related development, the court placed Kiritsinh Jadeja, the fifth accused arrested in the fire case, in eight-day police remand.

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