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Ghaziabad: GDA supervisor among three of a family killed in blaze possibly triggered by short circuit
Three members of a family were charred to death in a blaze in their first storeyed flat at H block in Sector 11 of Pratap Vihar locality in Ghaziabad Tuesday evening.
Three members of a family were charred to death in a blaze in their first storeyed flat at H block in Sector 11 of Pratap Vihar locality in Ghaziabad Tuesday evening. The police said they are waiting for the post mortem reports to ascertain the exact cause of death. According to initial investigations, the cause of fire seems to be a short circuit, they added.
The police identified the victims as Bacchu Singh, 48, who was a supervisor with the Ghaziabad development authority (GDA), his wife Shakuntala Singh, 42, and Bacchu’s brother Narayan Singh, 35, who was differently-abled. Fire department officials at the spot said the call had come through at 6.20pm, after which they rushed to the spot.
“The three bodies were found charred over the floor and the bed. The bed had an iron frame around it and was completely burnt from the inner portion. The victims could not rush out and all the three bodies were found next to each other,” said Sunil Kumar Singh, chief fire officer.
Bacchu was from Banda and was posted in the Vijay Nagar area where he worked as a supervisor with the GDA’s engineering department, said Santosh Kumar Rai, secretary, GDA.
Chote Lal, Singh’s other brother who lives nearby in Kailash Nagar also rushed to the spot when he got to know of the blaze.
“The three children of the couple had left home three days ago to perform theatre in Rajasthan. The couple has two sons and a daughter. Only three persons were present in the house at the time and had been staying in the flat since last five-six months,” he said.
Nand Lal, the caretaker of the 10-storey building, said the building was developed by the GDA but as of now are caught up in legal hurdles.
“One of our guards, Awdhesh, saw smoke billowing from the flat and rushed there. He asked me to keep the water motor running so that he could pour water over the flames. When he reached, the doors were not locked and all three occupants were dead. We called up the police. Only four-five flats are occupied in the building,” he added.
The police said they roped in field units and also picked up evidence from the spot. They said prime facie, the blaze seems to be a case of electrocution which later started a fire and the three victims could not move out of the house.
“Since the bed had an iron frame around it, it is suspected that a short circuit in electrical gadgets started a spark and later, the fire burnt down all belongings in the room as well as the bed. The bodies were found at one place and this suggests that the victims did not show any signs of saving themselves. We have ruled out any foulplay and post mortem reports will reveal the exact cause death,” said Sudhir Kumar Singh, senior superintendent of police, Ghaziabad.
Police officers who came for the initial investigation said that the iron frame of the bed could have come in contact with loose electrical wires which were found in the room.
“A room heater was also found near the burnt bed. It is possible that the iron frame of the bed led to electrocution after which victims died. Later, they got burnt along with the bed. We also found one empty and two full bottles of liquor. The field unit has picked up evidences for further examination,” said Dharmendra Chauhan, circle officer (city 1).
The administration said late Tuesday the Uttar Pradesh chief minister has taken cognisance of the incident and has directed the district magistrate to provide all help to the victims’ family. Besides, the district magistrate has directed for a magisterial inquiry into the incident, he added.
