42-yr-old Gurugram man dies after room he was sleeping in goes up in flames

Fire department officials said they received a call about the incident around 6am from a passerby, and a fire tender from Bhim Nagar was sent to the spot. It took firefighters 25 minutes to douse the blaze.

A 42-year-old man died after his room at Vijay Park in Sector 8 caught fire early on Wednesday morning. Fire department officials identified the man as Om Prakash Bhaweja alias Bittu who lived alone in his rented room on Madan Puri road.

A 42-year-old man died after his room at Vijay Park in Sector 8 caught fire early on Wednesday morning. Fire department officials identified the man as Om Prakash Bhaweja alias Bittu who lived alone in his rented room on Madan Puri road. (Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Fire department officials said they received a call about the incident around 6am from a passerby, and a fire tender from Bhim Nagar was sent to the spot. It took firefighters 25 minutes to douse the blaze. Officials from the New Colony police station had also arrived at the scene.

They found Bittu’s room bolted from inside and upon breaking the door found his body near the window, a few metres away from his bed which indicated that he may have attempted to escape.

Officials said he worked part-time in sweetmeat shops for a living, and was estranged from his wife and daughter, who lived separately. They added that blood samples from the victim were also taken to determine if he was intoxicated.

“Bittu had not paid his monthly electricity bills for a while and hence the electricity connection had been snapped. He used to burn wood to get heat at night, which could have been one of the reasons for the fire. Match sticks and cigarette butts were also found at the spot. They could have triggered the fire. We are working on ascertaining the exact cause,” said IS Kashyap, assistant divisional fire safety officer. Kashyap said that Bittu is likely to have died due to asphyxia though minor burn injuries were also found on his body.

A post-mortem report was conducted and the body was handed over to the family.