The Court in Gujarat's Rajkot has sought a report from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) regarding the TRP game zone fire.

This stems from a plea urging the initiation of criminal cases against certain IPS and IAS officers who were transferred, along with others who were suspended following the tragic incident.

The plea, termed a 'criminal inquiry plea', specifically seeks the filing of First Information Reports (FIRs) against former Rajkot police commissioner Raju Bhargava, municipal commissioner Anand Patel, as well as two IPS officers who were transferred, and nine officials who were suspended in the aftermath of the May 25th incident, which resulted in the loss of 27 lives.

Additional judicial magistrate B P Thakar, on Wednesday, has issued a notice to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), demanding a status report on its ongoing inquiry into all implicated officials by June 20th. According to lawyer Rajesh Jalu, representing petitioner Vinesh Chhaya, the petition argues that the reasons behind the transfers or suspensions of these officials warrant the initiation of FIRs.

The petitioner sought an FIR against these officials under Indian Penal Code sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (causing hurt to someone by acting in a way that is rash or negligent & endangers human life or the safety of others) & 338 (causing grievous hurt to someone by an act that endangers their life or personal safety).

The plea said “The reason for filing this present complaint has also arisen because 27 persons have died & other persons injured due to their carelessness in duties".

The plea highlighted that the TRP game zone had been operating for the past three to four years without obtaining any necessary permissions or licenses.

In addition to Bhargava, then Rajkot Deputy Commissioner of Police Sudhirkumar Desai and Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vidhi Choudhary, along with then Municipal Commissioner Anand Patel, were transferred and placed on standby for posting just two days after the incident.

Among the suspended civic officials are Chief Fire Officer Ilesh Kher, Deputy Chief Fire Officer Bhikhabhai Theba, Assistant Engineer Jaideep Chaudhary, Assistant Town Planner Gautam Joshi, Fire Station Officer Rahit Vigora, Deputy Executive Engineer of Roads & Buildings Department M R Suma, then Assistant Engineer Paras Kothia, and Police Inspectors V R Patel & N I Rathod. In a related development, the court has remanded Kiritsinh Jadeja, the fifth accused arrested in the fire case, into police custody for eight days.