Hotel owner, others granted pre-arrest bail

Regent Plaza fire case

The Sindh High Court granted pre-arrest protective bail to the Regent Plaza owner and members of its management on Saturday in the case of a recent fire at the hotel.

Zubairuddin Baweja, Muzafar Baweja, Saad, Arshad and Javed had approached court for obtaining pre-arrest bail in the case. They were booked by the Saddar police for the accidental death of 12 people and injuries to 75 others in a fire at the hotel on December 5.

According to the inquiry report, the management of the hotel had not only failed to follow its security plan, but was also unable to inform the emergency services in time.

Police said the fire had erupted in the kitchen located on the ground floor of the four-star hotel located on the Sharea Faisal, and swept through the building, trapping scores of hotel guests in their rooms.

The applicants’ counsel submitted that fire was accidental and there was no negligence by the management. He submitted that members of the management were willing to cooperate with the investigation but apprehended their arrest.

The court granted pre-arrest bail to the applicants and directed them to surrender before the trial court within four days. The city’s fire brigade department had completed its probe into the fire and declared the blaze “accidental” in nature.

Chief Fire Officer Tehseen Ahmed had ruled out any possibility of sabotage in the fire.

Ahmed said that while the cause of the fire was not completely clear, notions of foul play behind the tragedy were unfounded.

The chief fire officer further said that it seemed likely that the blaze originated in the hotel’s kitchen. The victims included four district health officers of Sindh and Balochistan.