A three-storey building in Lucknow that authorities once deemed illegal enough to demolish is now at the center of a widening investigation after a fire killed 15 people and exposed a decade-old trail of regulatory decisions.
The blaze tore through the commercial structure in Aliganj on June 22, trapping people inside and leaving at least 15 dead. As rescue teams worked through the wreckage, officials began examining records that showed the building had received a demolition order in May 2016 over unauthorized construction. That order was revoked less than two months later.
The property, identified as MS/102/D in Sector D of the Aliganj Scheme, was originally allotted to Vijay Kumar in July 1980 through a lottery-based hire-purchase scheme. Ownership later passed to Virendra Pratap Shukla and Surendra Pratap Shukla in 2013, with the Lucknow Development Authority completing the mutation process in August 2014. Official records show the 1,992-square-foot building received approval as a residential structure under a self-certification scheme later that month.
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Investigators are now focused on what happened next.
According to development authority records cited by multiple reports, unauthorized construction was detected on the premises, prompting the registration of Case No. 08/2016 against Virendra Pratap Shukla. A demolition order followed on May 10, 2016. Yet on July 5, 2016, the order was revoked. No detailed public explanation for that reversal has emerged.
The fire has triggered scrutiny of the Lucknow Development Authority, with reports indicating that as many as 16 officials connected to approvals, inspections and enforcement actions are under examination. Four officials have already been suspended, while police have arrested four individuals linked to the property.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced a two-member Special Investigation Team to conduct a time-bound probe into the disaster. The panel includes Additional Chief Secretary Amrit Abhijat and Lucknow Zone ADG Praveen Kumar, who have been directed to submit their findings within seven days.
Police registered an FIR under Sections 110, 105, 125 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita along with Sections 6 and 10 of the Uttar Pradesh Fire Service Act. Investigators are examining whether building violations, occupancy issues and fire-safety lapses contributed to the scale of the tragedy.
“The SIT has been instructed to submit its report within seven days”, state authorities said while announcing the probe.
Questions are also being asked about how a structure approved for residential use was allegedly operating as a commercial establishment. Local reports indicate businesses, including training and educational operations, were functioning from the building before the fire.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited injured survivors at King George’s Medical University in Lucknow a day after the incident. Images from the hospital showed officials meeting victims receiving treatment for burns and smoke inhalation.
A preliminary assessment cited in local reporting suggested the fire may have originated near an air-conditioning duct system, though authorities have not released a final forensic conclusion. Fire investigators are expected to examine electrical systems, emergency exits and compliance records as part of the ongoing inquiry.
For many families, the investigation comes too late. Among those reported killed were individuals who had gone to work expecting an ordinary day and never returned home. The death toll of 15 makes it one of the deadliest building fires reported in Uttar Pradesh in recent years.
What began as a fire investigation is now becoming an examination of official decisions stretching back nearly a decade. At the center of that scrutiny is a simple timeline: a demolition order issued in May 2016, revoked in July 2016, and a building that remained standing until a fire turned it into the scene of one of Lucknow’s deadliest urban disasters.
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