Delhi fire: Hotel owner was arrested last year in fake passport case linked to Bangladeshi nationals

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jun 5, 2026 11:49 AM IST

Lavkesh Bajaj is the owner of Flourish Stays B&B in South Delhi’s Malviya Nagar, where 21 people died in a fire Wednesday morning. (Source: Delhi Police/ANI Photo)

Lavkesh Bajaj, the 60-year-old owner of Flourish Stays B&B in South Delhi’s Malviya Nagar, where 21 people died in a fire Wednesday morning, was first arrested by the Delhi Police last year in a fake passport case involving Bangladeshi nationals in central Delhi. He was chargesheeted in the case and subsequently granted bail, The Indian Express has learnt.

Bajaj was arrested on Wednesday evening by a team led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Ritu Raj. On Thursday, the South District police sought his custody before a Delhi court to ascertain and verify the details of all workers, employees and others engaged in the operation of Flourish Stays, and to trace and apprehend Jay Mishra, the accountant of the establishment, and Rakesh, the manager of the hotel. Lavkesh is currently in four-day police custody and is being further questioned. The police are conducting raids to nab Mishra and a team has been sent to his hometown in Bihar.

According to Delhi Police sources, the 2025 case pertains to several Bangladeshi nationals who were arrested for illegally residing in central Delhi’s Paharganj. A team from Paharganj police station had thoroughly investigated the matter and established Bajaj’s alleged role in providing forged passports to illegal immigrants. Sources said the South Delhi police has sought details of the case from the Central Delhi police.

A senior police officer said Bajaj had been arrested last year after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered at Paharganj police station. “The case was registered in January, and he was arrested months later after police found his connivance during the investigation. He was sent to Tihar Jail and came out on bail after 15 days,” the officer said, adding that the matter is still sub judice.

Sharing details of the case, an officer said a Bangladeshi national was allegedly found living in central Delhi’s Paharganj area on January 29, 2025, using forged Indian identity documents, including Aadhaar cards and an Indian passport, according to the FIR registered at Paharganj police station.

The FIR states that on January 29, the police visited a house after receiving information that a Bangladeshi family was staying there on forged documents. At the premises, police found two women and a minor boy. They failed to produce valid identity documents and, during a search of the house, the police allegedly recovered two Bangladeshi passports, an Indian passport, Aadhaar cards, and several bank-related documents.

The police alleged that the photographs on the three passports appeared to be of the same woman. They also found that Aadhaar cards recovered from the premises carried different names and addresses but appeared to relate to the same person.

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Bajaj was arrested in this case on charges of fraud and cheating.

Earlier, The Indian Express reported that in 2024, a case had been registered against Flourish Stays under Section 188 for violating mandatory safety requirements, including the installation of CCTV cameras on the premises.

Mahender Singh Manral is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. He is known for his impactful and breaking stories. He covers the Ministry of Home Affairs, Investigative Agencies, National Investigative Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, Law Enforcement Agencies, Paramilitary Forces, and internal security.

Prior to this, Manral had extensively reported on city-based crime stories along with that he also covered the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government for a decade. He is known for his knack for News and a detailed understanding of stories. He also worked with Mail Today as a senior correspondent for eleven months. He has also worked with The Pioneer for two years where he was exclusively covering crime beat.

During his initial days of the career he also worked with The Statesman newspaper in the national capital, where he was entrusted with beats like crime, education, and the Delhi Jal Board. A graduate in Mass Communication, Manral is always in search of stories that impact lives. ... Read More

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Bangladeshi national

Delhi fire

Delhi Police

passport fraud