Lucknow fire tragedy: Four arrested; accused owners of building

Lucknow, Four individuals have been arrested in connection with a fire incident at a commercial building in the Aliganj area of Lucknow, which resulted in the deaths of 15 people, police said on Monday night.

Officials said the accused are joint owners of the building.

An FIR has been filed at the Aliganj police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Uttar Pradesh Fire and Emergency Services Act against six named individuals and others, police said.


Those arrested have been identified as Ram Krishna Upadhyay (43), a resident of Sector-D, Aliganj; Virendra Prasad Shukla (62), a resident of Sitapur Road area; and Tushar Krishna Jaiswal (31), a resident of Balaganj area, they said.

The fourth accused has been identified as Suresh Kumar Sahu, a resident of Keshavnagar (Lucknow), police said.

The FIR has been lodged under BNS Sections 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 125 (rash or negligent act that endangers human life) and under provisions of the UP Fire and Emergency Services Act.

It has been alleged that the building was approved for residential use but was being illegally utilised for commercial activities.

Aliganj ACP Shashi Prakash Mishra informed PTI that the allegations are under investigation, and appropriate action will be taken.

Further legal proceedings are underway, the police said.

The fire broke out at a three-storey commercial building in Aliganj on Monday afternoon, killing 15 people and injuring several others. The building housed an animation centre where students had gathered, as well as a pet shop and a clinic on the lower floors.