Mundaka Tragedy: So far 26 biological samples have been collected for DNA profiling,

Delhi Police on Monday said they have so far collected biological samples from a total of 26 people, whose family members are believed to have died in a building fire in Mundka, outside Delhi, for DNA profiling.

A huge fire that engulfed a four-story building on Friday killed at least 27 people, police said.

“A total of 26 samples have been collected for DNA profiling, which will be conducted by forensic experts,” said a senior police officer.

Delhi Police on Sunday said they had collected biological samples from at least 20 people for DNA profiling, whose family members are believed to have died in the fire.

The members include relatives of eight people whose identities have already been confirmed, officials said.

Manish Lakra, the owner of the building, was arrested on Sunday, two days after the incident.

The officer further said that they are asking the authorities including the civil society to provide documents for the investigation.

Lakra was in the real estate business and had a shop on the ground floor of the building, police said, but her family has not yet been found.

“We have received news that Lakra is heading towards Haridwar in Uttarakhand. After conducting multiple raids in Delhi and Haryana, we set a trap and arrested him from Ghevra mode, “said Samir Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) on Sunday.

Lakra lived on the fourth floor of a commercial building. He lived with his mother, wife and two children in a two-room kitchen. He and his family were able to flee to a nearby building when the fire broke out, police said earlier.

A company that manufactures and assembles CCTV cameras and routers, whose office is suspected to have started the fire, has been on the premises since 2017. Its owners – Harish and Vijay Goel, who are brothers, have already been arrested.