A Delhi court on Monday granted bail to Kesar Negi, the cook employed at the Flourish B&B hotel in Malviya Nagar, where a devastating fire claimed the lives of 22 people.
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While granting bail, the court observed that the forensic report determining the cause of the fire has not yet been submitted and hence criminal culpability cannot be attributed to the accused solely on the basis of a witness statement.
Negi was arrested after police investigation revealed that the fire began after an oil fryer was inadvertently left switched on while the cook prepared tea for himself, PTI news agency reported.
Police initially believed that the fire might have resulted from a short-circuit or a gas cylinder blast. The police have now revealed that the fire resulted from an unattended oil fryer which was left burning while the cook had gone on a tea break.
The oil in the fryer reached its auto-ignition temperature and caught fire, selling the ceiling ablaze. It began spreading rapidly and was fueled by highly inflammable materials such as cartons stored within the premises.
