New Delhi: Sixty-year-old Lovkesh Bajaj, owner of the Malviya Nagar B&B where a massive fire claimed the lives of at least 21 people including foreign nationals who had come to Delhi for medical treatment, was arrested Wednesday evening, after being on the run for over 12 hours.
The Delhi Police had launched a manhunt to nab Bajaj, who had absconded from his Saket residence, with several teams working on tracking down the Flourish Stays owner. Ultimately, he was detained in the Saket area itself.
Earlier in the day, ThePrint visited Saket’s D Block, where Bajaj owns a massive four-floored property. A grey board with ‘Bajaj’s’ inscribed on it marked the entrance. But on Wednesday evening, inside the well-lit colony, only his house remained dark.
The gates were locked, and a group of policemen stood outside the house.
According to Delhi police sources, a Look Out Circular was issued naming Bajaj, who also operates a hardware shop in the area and has a construction material business too.
Bajaj’s family had been residing in the area for over 40 years, said another source. “They have been running a business of construction raw material in Hauz Rani and recently expanded and entered the hospitality industry. They started this hotel that mostly catered to people who come to India for medical treatment. They are three brothers and all of them stay in Saket.”
The upscale neighbourhood, quiet and dotted with trees, houses bungalows and high-profile residents.
Bajaj’s spacious, ventilated house is starkly different from the B&B in Malviya Nagar where 21 people died. A neighbour, on condition of anonymity, said: “This house has four floors, and it is occupied by their family members. Lovkesh Bajaj’s family lives on the first floor.”
“We don’t know where any of the family members have gone. None of us saw them leave. Police also visited the incident spot, but we don’t think they found anything…,” said another neighbour out on a walk.
He said that most residents here keep to themselves, as did the Bajaj family.
A domestic worker employed in an adjacent building said that at around 10 am, he saw Bajaj and his wife pack their bags and leave in their car. “No one in the neighbourhood had known what had happened…I saw them make phone calls, and leave quietly…”
Police came much later in the afternoon to enquire about Bajaj’s whereabouts, he further said, adding that they only found the security guard, who had no answers.
“The officers beat up the guard, and left. Now, there is nobody here. I have been told the other floors are occupied by tenants. Bajaj and his wife live on only one floor.”
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)