DNA Test Reveals Co-Owner Was Also Killed In Gujarat Gaming Zone Fire

Prakash Hiran, one of the owners of TRP Gamezone in Gujarat's Rajkot, where 27 people, including children, died in a massive fire, was also killed in the blaze. The CCTV footage captured from the time of the fire showed Hiran at the scene, confirming his presence at the spot during the incident, his car was found at the fire site.

Hiran's brother, Jitendra, filed a missing complaint claiming his brother was inside the gaming zone when the fire ripped through the complex. The forensics department took DNA samples of his mother and today confirmed that Prakash was also killed in the blaze. Several bodies were burnt beyond recognition and the cops used DNA tests to identify the bodies.

Prakash, a partner in Raceway Enterprises, had 60 per cent ownership in the gaming zone and was named as an accused by the Gujarat Police. Six people were named as accused in the First Information Report (FIR) by the police - Dhaval Thakkar, proprietor of Dhaval Enterprises, partners of Raceway Enterprises Ashoksinh Jadeja, Kiritsinh Jadeja, Prakash Hiran, Yuvrajsinh Solanki, and Rahul Rathod - had partnered to run the game zone where the fire occurred.

Thakkar, a key accused in the case, was on the run after the incident and was arrested from Rajasthan. Police received information that he had been hiding at his relative's house in Rajasthan.

Yuvrajsinh Solanki, Nitin Jain and Rahul Rathod have been sent to two weeks of police custody. 

They have been booked under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 337 (causing hurt by an act that endangers the 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 offence is committed).

As many as 27 persons, including children, were killed in a massive fire at the recreation centre on May 25. Since the bodies were burnt beyond recognition, the state government took the help of a forensic science lab to identify the victims through DNA profiling.

The gaming zone did not apply for a fire safety certificate till this year, the Gujarat High Court was told. 

"This incident is an eye-opener. The system's eyes have opened after the death of innocent children. Such a game zone cannot be run at the cost of small children being killed," the court said, directing the ruling BJP to file, as an affidavit, the report to be submitted to a special investigative team.

The Gujarat High Court came down hard on the state government and said, "Have you gone blind? Did you fall asleep? Now we do not trust the local system and the state," the court raged when told fire safety certification hearings have been unresolved for four years.