The Aam Aadmi Party alleged on Thursday that fire engines took an hour and a half to reach the blaze-ravaged bed-and-breakfast accommodation in south Delhi’s Hauz Rani on Wednesday despite the presence of a fire station within 1km.

Twelve foreigners and nine Indians — eight of whom belonged to one family from Gurgaon — were killed in the fire at the Flourish Stay Bed and Breakfast. The hotel, with more than two dozen rooms, was licensed to operate only six and had flouted several fire-safety rules, police sources said.

Its owner, Lovkesh Bajaj, was sent to four days’ police custody on Thursday. The police are on the lookout for Jay Mishra, the accountant who ran the establishment, and hotel manager Rakesh. Two similar nearby establishments owned by Bajaj have also been shut down.

AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj told reporters: “The government has peddled a lie in the newspapers, claiming that the fire brigade was informed only at 8.50am.... Can someone please explain to me how, at 8.15am, there were so many people there laying out mattresses on the road for trapped people leaping out of windows and also pulling people to safety? Yet, they were all such fools that they didn’t even realise they needed to call the fire brigade and the police?”

He shared three videos of witnesses and said: “The fire was reported at 8am, the fire brigade didn’t arrive until around 9.30am.... It (Gitanjali fire station) is merely three minutes away.... And when they finally did arrive, there were two fire trucks. One of them had water, the other was empty.”

Delhi fire service officials have not responded to requests on WhatsApp by this paper for a response to Bharadwaj’s allegations. The Delhi government ordered a magisterial probe on Wednesday and announced a month-long fire compliance drive.

Choked exit

Delhi police on Thursday scoured the fire-ravaged hotel and found that the exit to the roof was blocked and that cooking heaters were being used in multiple guest rooms, officials said.

Investigators are looking at all aspects, including alleged violations of building norms, fire safety lapses, illegal constructions, the actual ownership of the bed-and-breakfast establishment and the circumstances that may have contributed to the high death toll, officials said.

“Locals, shopkeepers, hotel staff and other witnesses are being questioned as part of the investigation,” a police officer said.

The police have issued a look-out circular against Bajaj and his wife amid concerns that they could attempt to leave the country.

Bajaj has told the police during the interrogation that he had handed over the hotel’s management to Mishra and that all related licences were issued in Mishra’s name.

Police sources said Bajaj was the “actual owner” of the property, but the bed-and-breakfast licence was obtained in the name of Mishra.

The police are also searching for a key eyewitness, identified as Kesar Singh, whose testimony is considered crucial in establishing the exact origin and sequence of events leading to the fire.

According to investigators, the property was purchased by Bajaj from a person identified as Ahluwalia in 2022. At the time of purchase, the building was two-and-a-half floors and Bajaj subsequently added more, taking the structure to nearly five storeys, officials said.

The police sources said Bajaj initially rented out rooms to customers and obtained a licence for operating a tea shop. Over time, the property was converted into a bed-and-breakfast and operated as an establishment far beyond what it had permissions for.

Mishra, who was hired by Bajaj in 2022, handled the day-to-day operations of the establishment, including accounts and management. Before joining Bajaj at the hotel, Mishra worked as an accountant with a private firm in Malviya Nagar, the sources said.

Rescuers

Bharadwaj also put out a video of the rescuers, including a guard, Wasim Raza, who was injured while saving several people from the building, and Riyazuddin and his son Armaan Mansuri, who emptied their shop of mattresses for the hotel’s trapped occupants to jump on.

Raza, a guard at the Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital, is trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) — an emergency procedure to revive a person whose heart has stopped. “We cut through a grill and entered. I saw charred bodies inside, including one in a wheelchair. I gave CPR to around 10 people,” he said. Raza suffered gashes on his feet.

Most guests at hotels here are patients and attendants at the Max hospital. The occupants of Bajaj’s guest houses have left the property.