BENGALURU: Yelahanka police who opened a helpline for those who lost their cars in the fire that gutted 300 cars at the air show in Yelahanka on Saturday, have started giving out FIR copies to the vehicle owners, to enable them to claim their insurance.
About 200 owners of these vehicles visited the spot where the mishap occurred, and submitted information on their cars before RTO officials and employees of insurance companies. A police officer from Yelahanka police station said that 50 per cent of the owners had collected their acknowledgement on Sunday, as they filed cases soon after the incident occurred. “Rest of the owners turned up on Monday and we are doing our best to handover FIR copies, so they can proceed to get insurance cover for their gutted vehicles,” added the officer.
Meanwhile, the reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained. Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) experts inspected the scene on Sunday. Home Minister MB Patil, visited the location on Sunday afternoon to gather information on the incident. He also spoke to fire and police department officials on the same. Speaking to the media later, he said, “There were allegations made by some politicians that the negligence of the home department is to be blamed for the mishap.”
Patil denied the allegations and clarified that fire and police officials took all the necessary precautionary measures, and there were no lapses from the department’s end. “I really appreciate the fire staff for immediately dousing the fire before it spread to thousands of other vehicles.”
A senior police officer said, “We have not given any report about the mishap, as the incident took place within Indian Air Force premises. We have orally explained Saturday’s mishap to the Home Minister. The police staff are working round-the-clock to help the vehicle owners get all possible assistance to claim their insurance cover from the companies, and we have given instructions to the staff to provide all required documents to those coming to the station, and also to set up a helpline counter.”