Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday not ruling out the possibility of sabotage in the Mantralaya fire said that the crime branch and fire brigade will hold an inquiry into the incident. The government has cancelled all meetings till the fire-fighting operation is completed and all departments will be temporarily shifted to the extension building and Vidhan Bhavan.
“All efforts were made to ensure that the building was completely evacuated. Three people have died, two are missing, 16 people were admitted in three hospitals, out of which five were allowed to leave after preliminary treatment, and one person is seriously injured,” the CM said. Mr Chavan and DCM Ajit Pawar were supervising the fire fighting and rescue operations.
When asked about the possibility of sabotage, the CM said, “Let us not jump to any conclusion. The crime branch and fire brigade will hold the inquiry to find out the reason behind the fire.”
The CM claimed that as many as 2.27 lakh files comprising 3.18 crore pages were scanned and microfilmed on the server. However, the fact remains that the server was first to catch fire. Important departments including urban development, town planning, home and disaster management along with the CM, DCM and chief secretary’s office.
“The public works department will conduct a structural audit and a fire audit on Friday. A new control room will be set up immediately and Pravin Pardeshi, principal secretary, rehabilitation and relief will be the coordinator,” Mr Chavan added.