NEW DELHI: A fire today broke out in the building here in which former Delhi Law minister Somnath Bharti resides after which the AAP leader alleged that the incident was a conspiracy against him.According to the Fire department, the blaze in the building, in which Bharti resides with his family in South Delhi's Malviya Nagar, was reported at around 1.30 am and four fire tenders doused it within two hours.
Bharti's family escaped unhurt as they live on the second floor. Officers said the fire may have been caused due to a short circuit, but did not rule out foul play. They said the probe report would reveal what caused the fire. The caretaker at the advocate's office, Jogender Singh, who was sleeping on the first floor, called up the fire department and asked everyone to rush out of the building.
"Many residents tried to douse the fire by pouring buckets of water on it before the fire tenders arrived," he said. Bharti alleged that the incident was a conspiracy against him. "The fire broke out in a locked flat on the first floor. I can't deny a conspiracy due to the current political circumstances I am living in. I had tweeted about conspiracy angle and even tagged the police commissioner to probe the matter," said the AAP MLA.
"I escaped death by half a minute. @CPDelhi, kindly investigate d cause behind this because this has never happened b4 (sic)," Bharti tweeted. He also posted pictures of the burnt building on the social networking site. Bharti added that had the fire reached the cylinders kept in the building, an explosion might have been fatal for them. He claimed that he had not received any call from the police till late on Sunday evening for initiating a probe. However, the owner of the first floor flat has not yet filed a police complaint.
"The blaze was controlled by 3.30am, but it took time for the building to cool down as a lot of documents and wooden interiors had caught fire. Foul play can't be ruled out at this stage," said a Delhi Fire Services officer.