BK Dutt Colony fire: Police file FIR, launch probe into deaths

A day after a 40-year-old woman and her two daughters, aged eight and 12, died in a fire at their third-floor flat in BK Dutt Colony near Lodhi Colony in south Delhi, police on Wednesday said they had registered a case of death by negligence and were trying to reconstruct the sequence of events and ascertain the exact cause of the blaze

A day after a 40-year-old woman and her two daughters, aged eight and 12, died in a fire at their third-floor flat in BK Dutt Colony near Lodhi Colony in south Delhi, police on Wednesday said they had registered a case of death by negligence and were trying to reconstruct the sequence of events and ascertain the exact cause of the blaze.

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The first information report (FIR) was registered against unknown persons under Sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 287 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a senior police officer said.

“Although the victims’ family members have said they do not suspect foul play, we still want to establish how and where the fire started. The initial inspection of the room where the bodies were found did not help us ascertain the cause because everything inside had been completely charred,” the officer said.

At 10.21am on Tuesday, the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) received a call reporting a blaze at a house in Block B of BK Dutt Colony. The fire was brought under control by 11.10am. “A woman and two children were found dead inside the one-room flat on the third floor during the firefighting operation,” a senior DFS official said.

Residents said they noticed flames and thick smoke rising from the third floor at around 10.15am and rushed to alert the occupants and attempt a rescue. Mohit Sharma and his mother were unaware of the fire until residents informed them.