BENGALURU: Vyalikaval police, who are probing Sunday morning’s chemical blast that claimed the life of a 45-year-old washerman, on Monday took the statements from the neighbours of Rajarajeshwarinagar MLA Munirathna R in whose garage the incident took place.
The investigators are also waiting for the forensic report to pinpoint the exact cause of the explosion. In cases like this, it usually takes experts from the Forensic Science Laboratory a few weeks to come up with the report.
A senior police officer said it was a clear case of accidental death as the victim, Venkatesh, was carrying a can of methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP), a high-grade explosive.
“Preliminary investigation suggest that the incident was a result of negligence due to ignorance of Venkatesh. We are verifying where the can was kept. There is no clarity on whether the can containing the deadly chemical was abandoned by someone, or Venkatesh himself brought it from Jinke park in Chamarajpet to use it for his work as he is said to have got into the granite business recently,” the officer said. So far, the police have not booked anyone over the incident.
In his statement to the police, Pramodh, one of the MLA’s neighbours, said he came out of the house on hearing a blast. He also said that he had not noticed any kind of can in the vicinity earlier, adding that he was shocked to hear that it was a chemical explosion. Pramodh had rushed to help Venkatesh, but drew back when he realised that the victim’s head had got severed in the explosion. MLA Munirantha attended Venkatesh’s cremation at Srirampura on Monday.