Two detained in Bengaluru office fire mishap, investigation underway

Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said police have detained two people who escaped after fire broke out at Bengaluru's BBMP office, where nine were injured.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday said police have detained two people who had escaped after the fire mishap at the Bengaluru municipal Corporation office, which left nine people injured. He said the police have started an investigation into the fire mishap at the Quality Control Laboratory of the civic agency on Friday.

Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar. (HT_PRINT)

"Police have to register a case and investigate. Two people had fled. They have been detained. They are the (BBMP) staff. They ran away soon after the fire. They could have doused fire soon after the incident as there was safety equipment available there," Shivakumar, who holds Bengaluru Development portfolio, told reporters here. Others on the top floor were trapped by the time they ran down the stairs, he explained.

The DCM said three inquiries were going on simultaneously – one is the departmental inquiry by the BBMP, second is police investigation and third by the Electrical Inspectorate to investigate whether the fire happened due to a short circuit. According to him, the Quality Control Lab was not the place to store documents but it has been done.

READ | Three employees injured in BBMP fire critical

"Whom to blame for it? The accident has already happened. We have to provide the best treatment to the injured. We will shift this lab elsewhere," he said. The incident happened days after the Congress government ordered a judicial probe into all the works in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) during the BJP rule from 2019 to 2023. This apart, the government formed four panels headed by IAS officers. Shivakumar said the place where the quality control lab was functioning was not proper.

To a question, he said in the past fire incidents to burn files to close investigations had taken place. This time, however, the files are safe though they were kept in a room next to the lab. "There were files in the next room but fortunately, none of those files were burnt. We are on alert. We will let you know the details once the investigation is completed."

Regarding the safety of files, he said the arrangements have been made. He also said that he had a meeting with the Chief Commissioner and other officials on Friday night where he had given them the necessary directions.

The Bengaluru Central Division DCP Srinivas Gowda told reporters that a Group-D employee who was present there is being interrogated. "We are interrogating one person who was on the ground floor at the time of incident…As I said, a Group-D employee who was there is being interrogated. Presently we have detained two people," he said.

Gowda said prima facie it appears that the fire happened due to a highly inflammable material benzene, which is used for testing the strength of asphalt. According to him, the FSL teams and scientific officers arrived on the spot and collected proof. The nine injured have sustained burns on their faces and hands, according to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and DCM Shivakumar.

Meanwhile, the Congress in Karnataka drew flak for its tweet on the fire accident, which it deleted later. Minutes after the incident, the Congress in Karnataka tweeted from its official handle saying that the fire incident was not an accident but a conspiracy.

READ | Karnataka Deputy CM Shivakumar says he will retire from politics if it is proved he took commission

Shivakumar, who is also the Congress state unit president, said he did not approve the content of the tweet.

"The Congress party might have tweeted, I cannot accept that tweet. I got it withdrawn soon after I learnt about it. Some boys have done it," Shivakumar said.

Stating that he was away and not in the town to see what was being tweeted, he said earlier he used to see whenever there was a tweet. BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal tweeted that the Congress Twitter handle is just like the Congress party which runs away after making allegations.

"The unbridled inept people write whatever comes to their mind and when we question their authenticity, they delete the tweet and run away," Patil tweeted. He also said, "Wasn’t there a nobleman who said that action will be taken against those who spread fake news? Where has he disappeared?"