Bawana Fire Tragedy: Factory Owner Sent In 5-Day Police Remand For Nabbing Co-Accused, Identifying Source Of Raw Material [Read Order]

A Delhi court on Wednesday sent Manoj Jain, the accused in Bawana fire tragedy, in five-day police custody as the investigating officer said he needs to be taken out of Delhi to places from where he sourced explosives and also to nab man named Lalit Goyal who he had named during interrogation.

Metropolitan Magistrate Jitendra Pratap Singh granted Jain’s five-day custody to the police saying the probe agency deserved every opportunity to investigate the matter fairly since 17 people have been killed in the tragedy.

While the court initially granted remand of three days, it later extended it to five after being informed that due to security arrangements around Republic Day, it would be difficult to produce him in the court on January 27.

Meanwhile, the magistrate was informed that Jain has named one Lalit Goyal with who he used to run the factory where firecrackers were being manufactured without valid licence with raw material sourced from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh and other places.

The agency said it now needed his custody to know if he was running any other similar unit elsewhere and to nab Goyal.

The court also allowed Jain’s counsel Pradeep Rana to be present during custodial interrogation.

Jain is the owner of the factory in outer Delhi’s Bawana which had caught massive fire on Saturday killing 10 women and seven men and injuring many others.

While it was being claimed that the factory was being used as a warehouse for packing cold firecrackers which are used in stage shows, probe revealed it was being used for manufacturing firecrackers illegally.