Govindpuri Fire a ‘Deliberate Act of Arson’: CCTV Shows Masked Woman Before Deadly Blaze

June 14, 2026

New Delhi: Investigating the Govindpuri fire incident that claimed three lives earlier this week, the Delhi Police has found that a masked woman had entered the five-storey building minutes before the blaze engulfed started, said officials on Sunday.

The police have found a CCTV footage that showed the woman, who was wearing a mask and had covered her head and face, entered the premises shortly before the fire started. Soon afterwards, she left the building and fled, the police, adding that the case was a “deliberate act of arson”.

Continuing its investigation, the police apprehended a 17-year-old girl, who revealed during questioning that she was “instigated” by one, 27-year-old Sarita to set “ablaze the scooty” of one, Deepak, who lived at the fifth floor of the building.

Sarita and Deepak had a monetary dispute, the minor told the police. She was provided a matchbox and petrol by Sarita, the police said.

Later, Sarita was held and she told the police that the “conspiracy was hatched at the instance of 33-year-old Niranjan and his 27-year-old brother Rajkumar to avenge a personal dispute.”

“During the probe, teams examined CCTV footage from the area and noticed a woman entering the premises shortly before the fire broke out. Based on the evidence collected, police concluded that the blaze was a deliberate act of arson,” DCP (Southeast) Hemant Tiwari said in a statement.

The minor, and all the other three accused have been arrested now. The police earlier registered a first information report (FIR) under sections 287/106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Now, sections 61 (Criminal Conspiracy), 105 (Culpable Homicide), 110 (Attempt to Culpable Homicide), 326(g) (Mischief by Fire), and 331(4) (Lurking House-Trespass by Night) have been added.

Further investigation continues and more details will be revealed soon, the police said.

This incident had happened on June 12 in a five-storey building in Gali Number 1 near the Naya Tara Apartment on Madhyan Marg in Tughlakabad Extension area of Delhi. The fire killed three persons of the same family, who were identified as Pankaj (28), his maternal grandmother Sushila Devi (70) and his sister Soni Kumari (20).

Two other family members, Pankaj’s mother Guddi Devi (50) and his younger sister Moni (18), were critically injured and undergoing treatment. Other than them, three people were also injured and are being treated at the AIIMS Trauma Centre and Safdarjung Hospital.