Panaji: A day after Bombay high court rejected his anticipatory bail plea, the absconding disqualified sarpanch of Arpora–Nagoa surrendered before a court in Mapusa on Thursday in connection with the fire at ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’ nightclub at Arpora, which took 25 lives on Dec 6 last year.
The former sarpanch, Roshan Redkar, was then arrested after the court informed police about him. The police had issued a lookout notice for Redkar, Anjuna police inspector Suraj Gawas said.Last week, Anjuna police arrested former Arpora-Nagoa panchayat secretary, Raghuvir Bagkar.On Dec 7, govt suspended three officials in the wake of the blaze — Siddhi Tushar Harlankar, then director/additional director of panchayats; Shamila Monteiro, then member secretary of the Goa State Pollution Control Board; and Bagkar. Govt later terminated Bagkar’s services.Later, the Goa State Pollution Control Board suspended two of its staff — scientific assistant Chaitanya Salgaonkar and junior environmental engineer Vijay Harichandra Kansekar — for not conducting a proper inspection at Birch by Romeo Lane.The magisterial inquiry report gave 60 recommendations to state govt, including actions and steps that need to be put in place to prevent fire incidents like the one at Birch.The inquiry report ran into 108 pages, besides 500+ pages of annexures and statements.
