₹50,000 reward on absconding co-owner of Aliganj bldg

Lucknow: Even as four accused in the Aliganj fire tragedy remain in judicial custody, the building’s co-owner Surendra Pratap Shukla continues to evade arrest, prompting police to announce a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for information leading to his capture.The reward comes amid mounting questions over the pace of investigation into one of Lucknow’s deadliest fire disasters, which claimed 15 lives earlier this week.Police said Surendra Pratap Shukla, named in the FIR, has been absconding since the fire broke out. Several teams have been deployed to trace him and raids have been conducted at multiple locations linked to him, including his residence in Madehganj on Sitapur Road.

Despite sustained searches, he remains untraceable.Additional DCP (North) Twinkle Jain, who is supervising the investigation, confirmed that the accused is on the run and said efforts to apprehend him have been intensified.The multi-storey building in Aliganj where the blaze occurred was jointly owned by Virendra Prasad Shukla and his brother Surendra Pratap Shukla. Virendra, who also runs the Rameshwaram Institute of Technology and Management, was arrested shortly after the incident and is currently in judicial custody.

So far, police have arrested four accused in connection with the case, including Virendra Prasad Shukla, Ram Krishna Upadhyay, owner of the pet shop operating from the building’s lower floors; Tushank Krishna Jaiswal, director of the animation studio that functioned on the upper floor and Suresh Kumar Sahu, who was responsible for networking-related work in the building. All four have been remanded to 14 days’ judicial custody.