On Monday, the Gujarat government made changes within the Rajkot administration following a tragic incident at a game zone that claimed 28 lives, including four children. Rajkot Police Commissioner Raju Bhargava, the city's municipal chief, and two other IPS officers were among those transferred. IPS officer Brijesh Kumar Jha has taken over as the new Police Commissioner in place of Raju Bhargava. Additionally, Vidhi Choudhary, the Additional Commissioner of Police handling Administration, Traffic, and Crime, along with Sudhirkumar J Desai, the Deputy Commissioner of Police for Zone 2, have also been reassigned.
Earlier in the day, the Gujarat High Court criticized the state government for its response to the tragedy, expressing skepticism about the effectiveness of the state machinery, which it accused of acting only after innocent lives were lost. The court questioned whether the civic authorities had ignored the construction of such a large structure in the vicinity, especially after it was revealed that the TRP Game Zone had not obtained the necessary permissions.
According to police reports, the gaming zone lacked the mandatory fire safety clearance from the municipal corporation at the time of the incident. Despite submitting invoices for fire safety equipment and claiming to have installed them, the gaming zone had not yet obtained the required Fire NOC (No Objection Certificate) from the authorities. The police have taken legal action against the owner of the gaming zone, Yuvraj Singh Solanki, and his manager, Nitin Jain, on charges including culpable homicide.
An FIR has also been lodged against four other individuals under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempt to commit culpable homicide, causing hurt endangering life, causing grievous hurt endangering life, and being present as an abettor during the commission of an offense. The Rajkot taluka police registered the case against Dhaval Thakkar, the proprietor of Dhaval Corporation, as well as Ashoksinh Jadeja, Kiritsinh Jadeja, Prakashchand Hiran, Yuvrajsinh Solanki, and Rahul Rathod, who are partners or associates of Raceway Enterprise.
