New Delhi: The fire in a residential building in south east Delhi’s Tughlakabad area, which left three people dead and several injured early Friday, was not accidental, but a “deliberate act of arson”, Delhi Police said Sunday. A total of four persons, including a minor, have been held.
The fire had broken out on 12 June around 2.24 am in the building located in Tughlakabad Extension in Govindpuri Police Station area, engulfing the whole structure from ground floor to fifth floor. According to police, a total of eight persons were injured and shifted to AIIMS Trauma Centre and Safdarjung Hospital. The three deceased were identified as Pankaj, Sushila Devi and Sonia Kumari, all members of one family.
A senior police officer said that a case was initially registered under Sections 287 (negligent conduct with respect to fire and combustible matter) and 106(1) (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered.
“During further investigation, in the CCTV footage, a woman was seen entering the premises shortly before the fire broke out,” said DCP (southeast) Hemant Tiwari. “It was found that this was a case of a deliberate act of arson.”
The DCP added that a minor girl, aged 17 and resident of Navjeevan Camp in Govindpuri, was identified and apprehended. “She revealed that Sarita—27 years, a resident of Girinagar, Govindpuri—had instigated her, providing petrol and a matchbox to set ablaze the scooty of Deepak.”
Deepak lived on the fifth floor of the Tughlakabad building, and was embroiled in a monetary dispute with the accused, the DCP said.
Sarita, in turn, told the police that the conspiracy was hatched at the behest of Niranjan, 33-year-old resident of Navjeevan Camp in Govind Puri, and his 27-year-old brother Rajkumar.
“Deepak had to pay around Rs 80,000, which he had loaned from the accused persons and not repaid. The accused planned to set ablaze Deepak’s scooter by pouring petrol. But the fire spread to other vehicles, and eventually, the rooms in the entire building,” said a senior police officer.
DCP Tiwari said that additional BNS Sections—61 (criminal conspiracy), 105 (culpable homicide), 110 (attempt to culpable homicide), 326(g) (mischief by fire), and 331(4) (lurking house-trespass after sunset) have now been added to the case.
The police have apprehended the minor girl and the three accused have been arrested. Further investigation is underway.
The night of the fire
Among the deceased were building residents Pankaj, his grandmother Sushila and sister Sonia. Pankaj’s mother and other sister were critically injured and are undergoing treatment. The family lived on the third floor.
After the fire broke out, neighbours scurried up the adjoining buildings, broke open a locked terrace gate, and used sarees and ladders to help trapped residents escape. They also tried pouring water down the staircase.
Firefighters rescued eight, including two women, and rushed them to the hospital, Delhi Fire Service (DFS) PRO Rajindar Atwal said. The fire, officials said, began in the ground-floor parking area.
According to DFS Assistant Divisional Officer Yashwant Singh Meena, three scooties, two motorcycles and one bicycle parked outside the building caught fire, with smoke spreading upwards. “The ground, first and second floors are completely burned down and the rest partially burned.”
South East Delhi District Magistrate Sravan Bagaria said that there were likely around 30-40 people inside the building at the time of the fire.
The smoke caused more damage than the flames, the local residents said. “It was the smoke. The smoke from the fire below reached the top floors,” Sourav, a resident, recalled.
Another resident who lived on the rear side of the first floor told ThePrint that he woke up to thick black smoke outside his door. “At 2 am, we woke up to commotion and saw smoke. The moment we opened the door, there was black smoke everywhere. We were breathless.”
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)