NEW DELHI: The owner of the Malviya Nagar hotel, where a recent fire resulted in the deaths of 21 individuals, had been arrested last year. Police records indicate that the arrest was connected to allegations of facilitating the illegal stay of Bangladeshi nationals in Delhi, as reported by news agency PTI.
Lovkesh Bajaj, owner of Flourish Stays B&B, is currently in 4-day police custody in connection with the deadly fire that broke out at the south Delhi hotel on Wednesday. Bajaj was arrested in January 2025 in a case registered at Paharganj police station, according to police. The details of the earlier case have emerged as police continue to investigate the fire at Flourish Stays, which claimed 21 lives, including several foreign nationals, and injured many others.
“During interrogation, Lovkesh Bajaj admitted that he had knowingly permitted the accused persons to use his residential address for obtaining Indian identity documents in lieu of monetary consideration, thereby facilitating their illegal stay in the country,” police said. Police told the court they needed his custody to verify details of workers, staff members and others connected to the hotel’s operations, as well as to identify people linked to its management. Police are investigating the cause of the blaze and are also looking into the role of others involved in running the establishment. The case involved the alleged illegal stay of Bangladeshi nationals who were reportedly using Indian identity documents obtained through fraudulent means. During the investigation, police found that two women — Sweety Sarkar, also known as Beauty Hawladar and Johra Khatoon, and her daughter Pushpo Sarkar, also known as Pushpo Hawlader and Puspo Saiyada Akther — along with Pushpo’s minor son, were living in Paharganj using allegedly fraudulently obtained Indian documents, including Aadhaar cards and passports. Following the investigation, Bajaj, Sweety Sarkar and Pushpo Sarkar were arrested.
Bajaj was arrested in the fire case on Wednesday evening.
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