Nine Killed Including 7 Bangladeshis in Kolkata Hotel Fire: 350-Page Chargesheet Filed in 90 Days Against Owner and Two Others

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kolkata Police has filed a chargesheet against three accused in the devastating fire at the Shikha Inn residential hotel in Kolkata's New Market area. Nine people, including seven Bangladeshis, were killed in the fire.

Detectives from Lalbazar filed the chargesheet at Kolkata's Bankshall Court against the hotel's owner, Bireshwar Mitra, leaseholder Abu Jafar and his wife Saba Jafar.

In the early hours of 19 August, a fire broke out on the third floor of the hotel at 19H, Mirza Ghalib Street in the New Market area. Nine people, including seven Bangladeshis, were killed in the devastating blaze. A child was among the dead.

Police filed the chargesheet in court within 90 days of the incident. The nearly 350-page chargesheet includes the testimony of 90 witnesses.

The accused face charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempt to commit culpable homicide, endangering human life and criminal conspiracy. A forensic report has also been submitted alongside the chargesheet.

According to Lalbazar sources, the chargesheet describes the deplorable condition of the hotel's rooms. It alleges that the original rooms had been broken up to create smaller rooms.

Air conditioners installed in every room in violation of the rules put excessive pressure on the electrical system. As a result, the fire originated from an electrical board and spread rapidly through the hotel's rooms, the chargesheet states.

The chargesheet further states that the residential building had been illegally converted into a hotel. The hotel was being run without the necessary permission and in disregard of all rules. Police believe these irregularities were among the main causes of the devastating fire.

After the incident, Kolkata Police, the fire department and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation jointly began an investigation, during which various allegations of irregularities came to light.

Several residential hotels and guest houses in the New Market area were subsequently shut down on charges of rule violations, causing hardship for tourists. Later, a few hotels were allowed to reopen on the condition that they comply with the rules.