Secunderabad Inferno: Owners of Ruby Pride Hotel arrested; fire originated from e-bike say cops

Hyderabad: A day after the Secunderabad inferno that claimed 8 lives, Hyderabad police have arrested the owners of Ruby Pride Hotel and e-bike showroom responsible for the tragedy.

Cops booked the owners under 304 Part-II, 324 of the Indian Penal code and Sec.9 (b) of Explosives Act. On 13th September, Police arrested Ranjeeth Singh (owner of Ruby Pride Hotel Building) his son Suneet Singh (34 years) - Owner of Ruby Pride Hotel. Also arrested were Naridla Sudarshan Naidu -Manager in Ruby Lodge and cashier- Jaspal Singh Gulati. Meanwhile, cops said accused 3-Supreet Singh (30 yrs) owner of GEMOPOI Electric Scooters is absconding.

A major fire broke out at Ruby Pride Luxury Hotel in Secunderabad originating in the cellar of an e-bike showroom on the night of 12 September. Eight including a couple died inhaling harmful smoke and 7 have been hospitalized. The building which did not have 100 % fire safety norms turned into a smoke screen resulting in people jumping off from the hotel windows for cover.

One fire extinguisher and 50 officials with the help of locals, rescued 17 persons from the hotel. The ones who survived suffered from burn injuries and also have internal injuries due to the inhalation of toxic smoke.

It appears that the smoke first emerged from an e-bike kept for charging. However, the reports from fire department, electricity department, FSL etc., are awaited to determine the exact cause of fire, cops said.

At the time of incident, there were about 28 electric bikes, 8 petrol bikes, generators and open batteries parked illegally in the cellar. Besides E-bikes, there were 4 commercial HP gas cylinders found in leaking condition. These were installed in the cellar with connectivity to the kitchen located on the rooftop.

Three accused from one family:

According to reports, Ranjeeth Singh is the owner of the building. While his two sons, Suneet Singh @ Sumith Singh and Supreet Singh run the business, i.e The hotel, e-bikes showroom and two-wheeler finance. Inspection revealed that the building is equipped with 32 channel DVR CCTV cameras of which (25) cameras are functioning.

Safety norms flouted:

Cops have got hold of prima-facie evidence which indicates that the Singh family who own the building flouted safety norms by setting up business of e-bikes and charging of batteries in the cellar. "Absence of all required permissions for the hotel building and e-bike showroom and misuse of parking space are the major lapses for the gruesome incident. The arrested accused persons are being remanded to judicial custody" Cops said.

Heroes:

The following officers and civilians put their life at risk and saved many from the hotel. Among the civilian were Surya Kiran, S Subash, C Amar Reddy, Allam Shiva Kumar Yadav, Ravinder and Sameer.

While the unconditional service of N.Sudhir- ACP Gopalapura, B.Ramesh- ACP Mahankali, Y. NageswaraRao-Inspector Market police station, E.Shekar- Detective Inspector Market police, Anjaneyulu- DI Tukaramgate, Ande Rakesh- Police Constable, G.Ramesh Naidu-Sub Inspector Market police, S.Kanakaiah- Sub Inspector Market police and R.Siddulu, Sub Inspector Market PS, will be rewarded.