The Gujarat government on Monday shunted out five officials, including Rajkot Police Commissioner Raju Bhargava and two other IPS officers, after a massive fire at a game zone facility killed 28 people, including four children.

Bhargava has been replaced by IPS officer Brijesh Kumar Jha. Additional Commissioner of Police (Administration, Traffic and Crime) Vidhi Choudhary and DCP-Zone 2 Sudhirkumar J Desai have also been transferred, officials said.

According to police, the gaming zone did not have the required fire safety clearance from the city’s municipal corporation at the time of the incident. While the gaming zone owners had submitted bills to the police for fire safety equipment and claimed to have installed such equipment on the premises, the process for obtaining the necessary Fire NOC (No Objection Certificate) was underway, but had not been completed.

It is suspected that the fire might have started due to a short circuit, but officials said that the exact cause will be known only after a probe.

The action comes a day after Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel visited the site and instructed the officials to take strict action against those responsible for the horrific incident.

The police have arrested the gaming zone’s owner – Yuvraj Singh Solanki, and his manager – Nitin Jain, under various charges, including culpable homicide.

“An FIR has also been registered against four other accused under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 114 (abettor present when offense is committed) of the Indian Penal Code,” a police official said.

The six individuals against whom the case was registered by the Rajkot taluka police in the wee hours of Sunday are Dhaval Corporation proprietor Dhaval Thakkar, Raceway Enterprise partners Ashoksinh Jadeja, Kiritsinh Jadeja, Prakashchand Hiran, Yuvrajsinh Solanki and Rahul Rathod.

The state government has also formed a five-member SIT to probe the incident.

Rajkot Mayor Nayna Pedhadiya had earlier confirmed the absence of a fire NOC. “We will investigate how such a big game zone was functioning without a fire NOC and we are witnessing the consequences of it. No politics will be allowed over this issue,” she asserted.

Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi said the SIT has been asked to submit the report at the earliest.