Flames rise after a fire broke out at a hotel in Kolkata, Tuesday night, April 29, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Kolkata Police on Thursday (May 1, 2025) arrested two persons in connection with the fire at Rituraj Hotel in city Burrabazar area that claimed 14 lives on Tuesday night.
“Two persons namely Akash Chawla, the owner of the hotel and his manager Gaurav Kapoor have been arrested today early morning,” a statement from Kolkata Police said.
The police has started a suo motu over the incident at Rituraj Hotel a suo moto case on April 30 under section 105/110/124/125/287/3(5)(7) BNS read with 11C/11J/11L/26 West Bengal Fire Services Act.
According to the police, 12 of the 14 bodies have been identified. “Post Mortem done and bodies left for their respective places; two [bodies] yet to be identified,” police said.
While one person died after jumping from the hotel, 13 other bodies were recovered from the rooms of the four storeyed hotel located at 6, Madan Mohan Barman Street. Post mortem of the bodies have revealed that deaths death were due to effects of Asphyxia due to inhalation of carbon soot and also thermal burn injuries.
Most of the victims were traders and residents from other states who have come for shopping or a business trip to the city. The hotel is located near Mechua market in Burrabazar is one of the biggest wholesale fruit markets in the heart of the city with hundreds of buildings lined up against each other giving rise to fire safety concerns. The boarders alleged that the fire fighting equipment at the hotel wasn’t functioning.
The fire started at 8.30 p.m. on the first floor of the hotel on Tuesday and people climbed out of windows to save their lives. The victims included two children from Tamil Nadu aged 10 years and 3 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have all expressed their condolences and grief on social media. Both Union and State governments announced ₹2 lakhs for the kin of the deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured.
Published – May 01, 2025 10:49 am IST
