NEW DELHI: The police suspect the Kirari fire was caused by a short-circuit on the ground floor, which had been rented out as a godown, but relatives of the deceased, alleged that the building’s owners committed arson to end a property dispute.
Thirty-six-year-old Sanju’s sister, Shikha demanded justice, saying that her parents and sister had been killed by building owner Amarnath and his wife, Pooja. “I want the two (Amarnath and his wife) behind bars. They took my sister and my parents away from me,” Shikha said, while she sat outside the mortuary waiting for the bodies. Uday’s brother also alleged that the victim’s landlady was responsible for the deaths.
“How is it possible that nine people died while one woman and her kids survived? Nothing at all happened to her. She wanted to kill them for property. Her brother-in-law died a year ago. Uday’s parents, his wife and children were her target. She locked the doors from outside,” said Vijay Chaudhary, Uday’s brother.
Sanju’s cousin, Tapan Misra said that the allegations made by Uday’s kin and Shikha were believable.
“Going by what we have got to know from firemen...Uday’s door was locked from the outside, the terrace was locked...They had a tussle over the property, it is quite possible (that Amarnath’s wife is the culprit). She managed to escape and everybody else died. Nothing happened to her. A cylinder exploded on the second floor, not the first. How come?” Misra argued.
Meanwhile, Pooja, who is being treated at the hospital, with her kids admitted in the ICU, said she could escape because she was alerted by neighbours about the fire. “I was sleeping inside when the neighbours, from their terrace, told me that the house was on fire. I quickly woke the kids up and rushed to the terrace and they (neighbours) saved me,” she said.
Kejriwal condoles loss of lives
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal condoled the death of nine people, including three children, in a fire in Kirari area on Monday and said there has been no deficiency in providing treatment to the injured. “It’s a very sorrowful news. The fire has been controlled (but) nine persons could not be saved. May god rest their souls in peace. There has been no deficiency in providing treatment to the injured,” he tweeted in Hindi.