The owner of an illegal bed and breakfast in Delhi, where a fire killed 21 people on Wednesday, was also arrested last year for allegedly allowing a Bangladeshi woman and her minor daughter and grandson to use his residential address to obtain Indian identity documents and facilitate their illegal stay in India, police said on Friday.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Rohit Rajbir Singh said that Luvkesh Bajaj deliberately allowed Bangladeshi nationals to use his address in Delhi’s Chattarpur area to obtain passports and Aadhaar cards. He added that Bajaj was arrested after a case of fraud, forgery and criminal conspiracy was registered against him in January 2025, after the three Bengalis were discovered to be in illegal possession of Indian documents.
Singh cited the investigation into that case, which he said showed that the Bangladeshis were staying illegally in Paharganj, using fraudulently obtained Indian identity documents. He said it was proven that one of them obtained an Indian passport by providing Bajaj’s address.
“Bajaj was detained and interrogated. He was arrested after his role in the fraud and forgery was proven. The Bangladeshi woman and her daughter were also arrested. “Upon completion of the investigation, an indictment was filed before the city court against the three accused,” Singh said, adding that a report had been submitted regarding the Bangladeshi minor to take legal action in accordance with the law.
On Wednesday, Bajaj was arrested hours after the fire at the B&B that killed 21 people and injured 21 others. The fire broke out in the establishment’s restaurant kitchen on the ground floor. An investigation conducted by Hizb ut-Tahrir on Thursday found that Bajaj did not have a license to run a restaurant. He only had a ‘tea and snack outlet’ license which did not allow cooking or sitting. Even this tea and snacks license expired on March 31 this year. Bajaj applied for the license renewal on Wednesday, hours after the fire was reported. The request was rejected.
