The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): The owner of a hotel in Noida, where a woman died in a fire 10 days ago, has been arrested on charges of death due to negligence, police reported on Wednesday. The hotel, located near Hazipur market in Sector 104, was operating without a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the fire safety department and without approval of the building map from local authorities.
The victim, a 27-year-old physiotherapist, died of suffocation after a blaze erupted at the Moon Light hotel around 5 PM on May 19. She had checked into the hotel with her 26-year-old partner, who sustained injuries during the incident.
“An FIR was lodged in the case at the local Sector 39 police station. After investigation, the hotel owner Bimlendu Jha (40) has been arrested,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Vidya Sagar Mishra stated. Initially, the case was filed under Indian Penal Code section 304A (causing death by negligence) but was later changed to section 304 (culpable homicide) during the investigation, Mishra added.
The deceased’s brother alleged in the FIR that the hotel lacked adequate fire safety measures. Investigators found that the fire had started on the fourth floor, and the staff failed to alert the couple, who were in a room on the sixth floor.
On the day of the incident, the couple were the hotel’s only customers. The hotel, which had opened earlier in the month, was still under construction with only temporary fire safety measures in place and had not yet received the necessary NOC from authorities, according to police.