Bengaluru fire incident: Owners and son arrested by police

The Bengaluru police on Wednesday arrested the owners and their son after a massive fire that broke out at a chemical factory in Bapuji Nagar on November 10, Tuesday afternoon.

Bengaluru: After a major fire broke out at a godown in Bapuji Nagar on Mysuru road in Bengaluru, the police on Wednesday arrested the owners and their son.

As many as 1,800 barrels of chemicals used for sanitisers and paint thinners were illegally stored in the godown according to police.

The accused have been identified as Sajjanraj, 66, the owner of Rekha Chemical Industries, his wife Kamala Sajjanraj, 60, owner of Rekha Chemicals Corporation, and their son Anil Kumar, 30, who managed the family business were arrested.

Sanjeev M. Patil, DCP (west) told the media “The couple has two factories in Bommasandra Industrial Area and the licence to run both. But they did not have the required permission or licence to store chemical barrels in the godown. They had not taken permission from the BBMP, Fire and Emergency Services or from the pollution control board”.

It is reported that a similar incident had occurred at the same godown close to 30 years ago. Despite neighbours complaining over the last few decades the couple continued to illegally store chemicals there.

For the uninitiated on Tuesday, a massive fire broke out at a godown which was earlier reported as a chemical factory and four workers were rescued by the fire department personnel.

Hours after fire broke out, firemen found it difficult to douse the fire completely even though the flames were under control. After which close to 25 fire engines had to arrive at the spot to stop the fire.