Police file charge sheet over Hauz Rani B&B fire that killed 23

Twenty-three people, including foreign nationals in Delhi for medical treatment, died when fire swept through Flourish Stay B&B in Hauz Rani on June 3. Delhi Police have now filed a charge sheet running to more than 1,500 pages in the case.

Police named owner Lovkesh Bajaj, manager and accountant Jay Mishra, and cook Keshav Negi. The charges include culpable homicide not amounting to murder, offences related to fire damage and acts endangering life, and negligent conduct involving fire or combustible material. The filing includes statements and documents from 130 witnesses; the forensic laboratory report is still awaited.

Investigators said the fire began near an electric air fryer in the ground-floor kitchen at about 8.30am. An LPG hose pipe then caught fire, causing a gas leak and smoke to spread through the lower floors.

Police allege the B&B, licensed for six rooms, was operating 31 rooms across four storeys, a basement and the roof, without a fire exit. The ground-floor restaurant was permitted only as a tea-and-snack outlet, they said. Delhi has since separated building-design checks from fire-safety NOC inspections.