The TRP Gaming Zone at Rajkot in Gujarat, where 33 people, including 10 children, lost their lives in the fire incident, has been running without relevant permission since 2022. The critics point the finger at the Commission of Raju Bhargav for being friendly with the owners of the gaming zone.
Raju Bhargav was posted as the city commissioner on May 24, 2022. He was brought in after the previous Commissioner of Police, Manoj Agrawal, was shifted amid allegations of corruption by BJP MLA Govind Patel.
It was during the tenure of Raju Bhargav that the gaming zone was accorded permission for the first time on November 21, 2023. The permission, valid until March 31, 2024, was renewed on March 13, 2024, with a validity up to December 31, 2024.
The gaming zone ran even without police permission from 2022 to November 2023. Even after November 2023, the partners of the gaming zone felt themselves being sufficiently entitled to not care about obtaining other required permissions. The partners of the gaming zone are believed to take refuge in their proximity to the highest echelon in the city police administration.
The Gaming Zone did not have a No Objection Certificate (NOC) or any fire safety equipment at the spot to meet such eventualities. The TRP Game Zone owners had not applied for the required license from the entertainment department. The recreational facility has been operated without mandatory licensing for the last 18 months in the heart of the city.
Meanwhile, the Rajkot district police filed a complaint against six individuals namely Dhaval Thakkar, the owner of Dhaval Corporation, Ashoksinh Jadeja, Kiritsinh Jadeja, Prakash Chand Hiran, Yuvrajsinh Solanki, and Rahul Rathod. The accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 337 (causing hurt by an act that endangers life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt to a person by doing an act that endangers their life or personal safety) and 114 (someone present when the offense is committed), as per the FIR.
Waking up rather late, the police commissioner has ordered all gaming zones to stop operations even as questions are being raised as to why none of the authorities bothered to check the same earlier. The Gujarat Director General of Police has also instructed the commissioners of police and district superintendents of police to inspect all the game zones in the state and to close the game zones running without fire safety permission.
Also Read: Rajkot: FIR Against Six Accused in Gamezone Fire Incident
