Fire at PG accommodation: Sector 32 house owner moves court for de-sealing property

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune news service

Chandigarh, July 22

Gourav Aneja, the owner of the Sector 32 house in which three girls had died following a fire incident last year, has moved court for the de-sealing of the property.

The girls were staying in the house as paying guests and the property was sealed soon after the mishap.

As per the prosecution, Aneja had given the house on lease to another accused in the case Nitesh Bansal, who was operating a PG accommodation there.

The fire had engulfed the house in Sector 32-D here on February 22, 2020.

The prosecution alleged that Bansal had illegally raised temporary fibre and wooden partition/structures in the house to accommodate maximum number of students, leaving narrow space for stairs and improper ventilation. The house was also not equipped with fire extinguisher and emergency exit.

The prosecution alleged that when the fire broke out, the girls got trapped and three of them died while few others got injured.

The fire had broken out on the first floor of the house.

Muskan Mehta, Riya and Pakshi Grover, all aged between 19 and 21 years, died in the incident.

At the time of the incident, 17 girls were present in the house.

The prosecution had alleged that the PG accommodation was being run in violation of bye-laws.

The police had registered the case against the accused under Sections 304, 336,188 and 34 of the IPC. A chargesheet has also been filed in the case.

Meanwhile, the police have filed a reply on Aneja’s application for de-sealing of the house.

The police informed the court that it was the Estate Office of the Administration which had sealed the house. The court has deferred the hearing to July 29.

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