Delhi’s Uphaar cinema fire case: Ansal brothers get 7-year jail term

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Delhi-based builder brothers Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal have been sentenced to seven years in jail for tampering with evidence linked to the devastating fire that broke out at  Uphaar cinema in the capital’s Green Park area in 1997 that had claimed as many as 59 lives. </p>
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The Ansal brothers were also fined Rs 2.25 crore each by the city’s Patiala House Court.</p>
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Most of the victims had died of suffocation. The investigation into the fire revealed that the exit doors of the cinema hall had been blocked to add more seating capacity to the hall. </p>
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The Ansal brothers, who owned the cinema, had been convicted for tampering with evidence last month, but the punishment was announced on Monday.</p>
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The Ansals were earlier jailed for two years by the Supreme Court in the case. Later, they were released and fined Rs 30 crore each, an amount that would be used to build a trauma care centre in the national capital.</p>
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Two other accused in the Uphaar fire tragedy, Har Swaroop Panwar and Dharamvir Malhotra, died during the prolonged trial.</p>
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The fire at Uphaar cinema broke out during a screening of the war movie 'Border' which was based on the battle of Longewala that took place on Dec 4-7 during the India-Pakistan war of 1971.</p>
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The cinema did not have proper fire safety measures in place and the movie goes were trapped in the hall after the fire broke out resulting in the death of 59 people while another 100 were injured in the utter chaos and stampede that followed</p>
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The incident had sent shock waves in the capital and the grief-stricken parents of the young people who died in the fire had come together to fight the Ansals, who were the leading builders in Delhi at the time. A long legal battle ensued that swung from allegations of negligence to homicide against the Ansal brothers.</p>