Kolkata Police on Wednesday (August 19, 2026) night arrested the lease holder of the hotel in Mirza Ghalib Street where a massive fire broke out killing nine people including several Bangladeshi nationals.

"Late last night, a team of Detective Department picked up Abu Zafar, the lease holder of Hotel Shikha Inn, where the fire incident took place. Later, he was arrested from the Entally main market area. Two other people including a staff of Shikha Inn and the manager of Jaapon Hotel of the same building were also detained for questioning," said the Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime), Kunal Aggarwal.

Police said the fire started around 2 a.m. inside Shikha Inn, located on the second floor of Florence Mansion in the New Market Police Station area of Kolkata. Around 60 people were rescued from the hotel situated in the five-storey building that has several guesthouses and inns, largely frequented by Bangladeshi nationals visiting Kolkata.

Five of the deceased were Bangladeshi nationals, two were residents of Bihar and West Bengal's Siliguri. Of the five Bangladeshi victims identified, four belong to the same family including a reputed journalist Debashish Dutta. They had come to Kolkata from Kushtia upazila of Bangladesh for medical treatment.

However, two victims are yet to be identified, said police.

The Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata issued a helpline - +8801717291266 (WhatsApp), +919903426119 (WhatsApp), and +918274821452 (Mobile)

A five-member special investigation team, led by the Deputy Commissioner of the Detective Department of Kolkata Police, has been set up to probe the fire.

Police and the fire department have registered an FIR under several Sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder and negligence, and under Sections of the West Bengal Fire Services Act.

The hotel’s owner, Bireshwar Mitra, is still absconding, said police.

Published - August 20, 2026 01:32 pm IST