Months after his seniors' arrests in game zone fire case, Rajkot fire officer held for accepting bribe for NOC

Ahmedabad: Barely three months after a fire accident killed 27 people including many children at a popular game zone in Rajkot and his seniors were arrested, the in-charge chief fire officer of Rajkot was caught red-handed for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1.80 lakh for issuing no objection certification (NOC) for fire safety.

ACB officials said that they arrested Anilkumar becharbhai Maru,a class-one officer and in-charge chief fire officer of Rajkot Municipal Corporation (AMC). They said that Maru was seeking a bribe from the complainant for issuing fire NOC for a building in the city.

ACB said that Maru allegedly sought a bribe of Rs 3 lakh from the complainant who had already paid Rs 1.20 lakh initially and sought time to pay the rest of the amount. Meanwhile, he approached Jamnagar ACB officials who laid a trap. Officials said that Maru demanded and accepted the bribe amount of Rs 1.80 lakh while misusing his position as a public servant.

Earlier in June, local police arrested chief fire officer Ilesh Kher and his deputy Bhikha Theba for their alleged involvement in the fire accident on May 25, which killed 27 people. They were accused of not taking any action against the TRP Game Zone despite another case of fire at the zone reported only a few months before the accident. Following their arrest, Maru was handed over the charge.