CUTTACK: In a tragic incident, a 12-year-old boy was charred to death in his house at Dharmadaspur village of Mulabasant gram panchayat under Mahanga block on Sunday night. The deceased has been identified as Pranab Mishra, a Class VI student of a local school. According to sources, Pranab, his parents Prakash and Hemalata Mishra and elder brother Prabin was sleeping in their two-room house when the fire erupted after the midnight.
Prakash, who woke up after feeling the heat, noticed smoke and flames inside the house. He managed to wake up his elder son and wife and run out of the house. But, Pranab could not move out as the fire had engulfed the entire room. Trapped in the house, Pranab was charred in the inferno. Police and fire personnel rushed to the spot and doused the flames. Later the body was recovered and sent for post-mortem. Though the exact reason behind the mishap is yet to be ascertained, electrical short circuit is suspected to be the cause. An unnatural death case has been registered at Mahanga police station, said IIC, Subhransu Sekhar Parida.