Bawana fire: Victims move court seeking NIA probe

An application seeking NIA probe in the Bawana factory blaze, where 17 people were charred to death, has been moved by the victims in a Delhi court.

The plea was moved by advocate Rishipal Singh, counsel for the victims, who contended that the plea is transferred from the Delhi Police's Crime Branch to the National Investigating Agency (NIA) stating that no "fruitful investigation" had been made so far.

"Till date, no investigation has been carried out despite the lapse of more than 8 days from the date of registration of FIR," the plea said, adding that the statements of the victims have also not been recorded, so far.

Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Monday extended the police custody of Manoj Jain, the owner of the factory and the accused to two days.

Metropolitan Magistrate Vikram sent Jain to the custody after the cops informed the court that he was not co-operating during interrogation and has not unlocked his mobile phone to get more details. They also contended that Jain was "frequently pretending illness", following which the court issued the orders.

Earlier, the court had allowed five days of police custody for Jain. However, the police sought a two-day extension of the custody, stating that a detailed investigation could not be conducted earlier due to the shortage of staff on account of the Republic Day.

After hearing the submission of the police, the court directed that the accused Manoj Jain be produced before it on January 31. It also directed the investigation officer to conduct Jain's medical examination during the police custody remand at the interval of every 24 hours till his production.

While Jain was arrested on January 21, Lalit Goyal, the co-accused in the deadly blaze, was arrested on January 27 and sent to four days of police custody.