Man charred to death as fire guts 5-storey electrical shop

Victim may be thief, say cops; residents claim he worked in store

An unidentified man was charred to death when a fire destroyed a five-storey electrical shop-cum-godown early on Friday morning. The incident occurred on a narrow lane on BVK Iyengar Road in Chickpet, central Bengaluru.

Local residents were woken up by a loud explosion around 4 am. As they peered through the windows, they saw the entire building up in flames. They alerted firefighters who rushed to the spot with three fire tenders. But the fire raged out of control. Though the number of fire tenders was increased to 12, firefighters struggled for more than five hours to douse the flames, an official said.

The building’s location made things difficult for firefighters. They stationed the fire tenders near the main road and connected the hose pipes to access the building.

A short circuit is suspected to have caused the fire. The shop, Maya Electrical, owned by one Naresh, had stored many batteries which possibly exploded and spread the fire.

Local residents said there were a few explosions, after which the fire spread at a rapid pace.
Mahender Pal, a neighbour, said, “We heard a loud explosion around 4 am. We woke up and found the building on fire. The windowpanes and doors of the neighbouring houses were damaged. We presumed it to be a bomb blast and everyone started running out of their homes.”

The building is owned by one Rajesh who had rented it to Naresh. The shopkeeper was running a store on the ground floor and using the upper floors as godown. The official said the building was badly maintained.

The identity of the dead man has become a mystery. A senior police officer, who visited the spot, said the man was aged around 35 years and could have been a thief. “He may have done something which resulted in the explosion and triggered the fire.

“But the shopkeeper insists that he had locked up the building before leaving for the day. Some people claim that the deceased was working in the shop and was cleaning it when the fire broke out. The cause for the explosion is mysterious and we are investigating it.”

Police are questioning the shopkeeper for information about the fire accident. Forensic experts have collected samples from the spot for a detailed examination.

A case has been registered at the Chickpet police station. The value of the destroyed goods is yet to be ascertained.