Sanitisers May Have Aggravated Fire At Pune Chemical Plant: Officials

The police, meanwhile, have registered a case of culpable homicide against one of the owners of the firm, alleging "gross negligence", and arrested him late at night.

A day after 17 workers, most of them women, were killed in a fire at a chemical plant in Pune district, an inquiry committee said on Tuesday that a large stock of sanitisers stored with inflammable materials may have aggravated the fire. The police, meanwhile, have registered a case of culpable homicide against one of the owners of the firm, alleging "gross negligence", and arrested him late at night. A case was registered against Nikunj Shah, one of the owners of SVS Aqua Technologies, under relevant section of the Indian Penal Code for "culpable homicide not amounting to murder", said Abhinav Deshmukh, Superintendent of Police (SP), Pune rural. Shah was questioned and later put under arrest. The case was registered following an inquiry report submitted by a committee headed by Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) Sandesh Shirke, the SP said.