Kolkata hotel fire: Interior decorator held, total arrests rise to 3

Kolkata: Police on Friday arrested one more person in connection with the massive fire at a Kolkata hotel that claimed 14 lives, a senior officer said.

The accused, Khurshid Alam, an interior decorator, was picked up from his Park Circus home, taking the total number of arrests in the case to three, he said.

"Rules were flouted by this person while conducting interior decoration works. Certain inflammable articles were used, which helped the fire to spread," the officer added.

Police suspect construction works on the hotel’s first floor may have intensified the blaze.

Police on Thursday arrested the owner and the manager of Rituraj Hotel, two days after the devastating fire engulfed the six-storey property at Mechhua Falpatti in the city's Burrabazar.

Firefighters recovered 13 charred bodies from the debris on Wednesday. Another victim succumbed to injuries later, taking the death toll to 14.