New Delhi: Lavkesh Bajaj, the owner of ‘Flourish Stay’ bed-and-breakfast where a devastating fire claimed 21 lives on Wednesday, reportedly drove past the blazing building without stopping due to sheer panic. Bajaj was apprehended by the police hours after the massive fire gutted the establishment located in the congested Hauz Rani locality of Delhi’s Malviya Nagar. During a late-night interrogation, Bajaj confessed that he chose to flee the spot even as panicked guests were desperately attempting to escape the smoke and flames engulfing the five-storey structure.
During questioning, Bajaj stated that instead of pulling over to assist in the ongoing rescue operations or helping those trapped inside, he simply sped past his burning property. He claimed that he fled the scene entirely out of fear. Rather than heading to his residence, Bajaj spent hours wandering aimlessly around different parts of the city. Among those killed in the horrific incident were eight members of a single family from Gurugram, whose chartered accountant son had rented the rooms to stay near his ailing father.
Bajaj had acquired the property in 2022 from an individual named Ahluwalia and converted it into a commercial hotel-cum-guest house. The structure, which previously operated as a Khadi outlet, was already in a highly dilapidated state when he took it over. While Bajaj confirmed that he possessed a registered license under the residential ‘BnB’ (bed-and-breakfast) scheme—which explicitly permits a maximum of only six rooms—he was illegally operating 25 rooms across the building, including several inside the basement.
Although Bajaj remains the sole proprietor of the establishment, he revealed that the complete management and operational control had been handed over to a manager named Jai Mishra. Consequently, all critical hotel licenses were issued under Mishra’s name. The Delhi Police have launched a massive manhunt to locate the absconding manager, Jai Mishra.
The Delhi Police are currently verifying the statements made by Bajaj during his custody and are scheduled to produce him before a local court today around 2 pm, where investigators will seek a five-day remand. The Bed and Breakfast scheme, introduced in 2007 under the Incredible India framework, was aimed at providing safe, regulated, and affordable home-stay options within residential neighborhoods.
The scheme strictly enforces the following core statutory guidelines: A maximum cap of six double-bed rooms per residential property. The mandatory physical residence of the property owner on the premises. The building must strictly maintain its residential character. Absolute compliance with standard fire safety protocols, proper ventilation, and basic civic infrastructure. As part of the criminal investigation, authorities are probing severe lapses in safety compliance. Preliminary inspections revealed that the multi-storey building had only a single entry and exit point, which bottlenecked evacuation routes. Furthermore, the building’s windows were permanently sealed, and the main exit was controlled by automated electronic sensors that failed during the emergency.
As many as 12 foreign nationals are among the 21 victims killed in the hotel tragedy. The fire broke out around 8:30 am on Wednesday inside the basement and quickly swept upward through the higher floors. As the blaze erupted during the early morning hours, most of the residents were caught asleep. A fleet of 17 fire tenders was pressed into service to douse the flames. Firefighters managed to rescue 58 people, who were rushed to the nearby Max Hospital. Out of the 21 victims declared dead on arrival, 12 have been confirmed as expatriates.
The fatalities also include eight members of a family who had traveled to the national capital to visit a hospitalized relative. Vivek Agarwal, a prominent chartered accountant based in Gurugram’s Sector 46, had arrived in Delhi to visit his 80-year-old father, Radhe Shyam Agarwal, who is battling for life in the ICU at Max Hospital. Vivek was accompanied by his wife Tarjani Agarwal, daughters Jivisha and Varya, and four other close relatives. The family had booked two rooms at Flourish Stay and were assembled for breakfast when the fire trapped them. With eight members wiped out, Vivek’s hospitalized father remains the sole survivor of the family.
ലഘു വിവരണം.
ഡൽഹി മാളവ്യ നഗറിലെ ‘ഫ്ലറിഷ് സ്റ്റേ’ ഹോംസ്റ്റേയിലുണ്ടായ വൻ തീപിടിത്തത്തിൽ 12 വിദേശികളും ഒരു ഗുരുഗ്രാം സ്വദേശിയുടെ കുടുംബത്തിലെ 8 പേരുമുൾപ്പെടെ 21 പേർ ദാരുണമായി കൊല്ലപ്പെട്ടു. കെട്ടിടം കത്തുന്നത് കണ്ടിട്ടും ഭയം കാരണം വണ്ടി നിർത്താതെ രക്ഷപ്പെട്ട ഹോട്ടലുടമ ലവ്കേഷ് ബജാജിനെ പോലീസ് അറസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്തു. ആറ് മുറികൾക്ക് മാത്രം അനുമതിയുള്ള റസിഡൻഷ്യൽ ലൈസൻസിന്റെ മറവിൽ ബേസ്മെന്റിലടക്കം 25 മുറികളാണ് ഇവിടെ നിയമവിരുദ്ധമായി പ്രവർത്തിപ്പിച്ചിരുന്നത്. കെട്ടിടത്തിന് ഒരൊറ്റ എക്സിറ്റ് മാത്രമാണുണ്ടായിരുന്നത് എന്നതും ജനലുകൾ പൂർണ്ണമായി അടച്ച നിലയിലായിരുന്നു എന്നതും ദുരന്തത്തിന്റെ ആക്കം കൂട്ടി. ഒളിവിൽ പോയ ഹോട്ടൽ മാനേജർ ജയ് മിശ്രയ്ക്കായി പോലീസ് തിരച്ചിൽ തുടരുകയാണ്.
(With inputs from NDTV)
For more details: Navamalayalam.com