Overview
- Investigators arrested Saba Zafar from a hideout in Shibpur after informants tipped police, a raid that the city said took place on Wednesday.
- Saba was the final accused who had evaded capture since the August 18–19 blaze at Hotel Shikha Inn that killed nine people, including a child.
- The hotel owner Bireshwar Moitra and lessee Abu Zafar were arrested soon after the fire, and Moitra told police he had leased the property to the Zafars for Rs 40,000 a month.
- Police say the fire started on the building’s third floor, rooms filled with thick smoke and most victims died of suffocation; many of the dead were Bangladeshi nationals in Kolkata for medical treatment.
- With all primary suspects now in custody, police will continue interrogations and legal action, and the case could prompt closer scrutiny of safety and leasing responsibilities at small lodges.