SC panel records top cop's statement on fire at judge's house

NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court commission probing the March 14 fire at former Delhi high court judge Yashwant Varma 's official residence that led to the recovery of a large amount of cash at a storeroom is learnt to have recorded the statement of Delhi Police commissioner Sanjay Arora, and a few other senior police officers.

Arora is learnt to have informed the commission that the storeroom was adjacent to a guard room where CRPF (Battalion 70F) personnel were posted, and that the storeroom used to be kept locked. Arora is also learnt to have told the commission that he informed the senior judiciary around 4.50pm on March 15 about the incident.

He told the commission that a PCR call was made by the personal secretary to Justice Varma from a mobile number registered in the name of Delhi high court and that the secretary said he was informed about the fire by one of the servants at the judge's residence. The police chief informed the commission that no separate call to the fire brigade was made. The information was automatically sent to Delhi Fire Service.

Besides Arora, the apex court commission is also learnt to have spoken to the area DCP and the first responders besides cops from Tughlaq Road police station. A middle-rung officer who had visited Justice Verma's residence a day after the fire incident is also learnt to have been examined, sources said.

Last week, the statement of fire service chief Atul Garg was recorded at the Haryana guest house in Chanakyapuri, where the inquiry committee has established a camp office.