Relatives of victims allege foul play in Delhi fire

The relatives of the five-member family who died in a fire in a building in the national capital's Kirari area on Monday, have alleged foul play.

A total of nine people, including three children, were killed on Monday after a three-storey building caught fire. In the preliminary investigation, the cause of the fire was said to be a cylinder blast on the second floor of the building. However, the relatives of one family, who lost five members in the fire, have demanded a probe as they alleged foul play.

"He was crying and telling me that he could not get out of the room, his room was locked from outside," said Lallan, who is the elder brother of the deceased Udaikant Chaudhary.

Lallan claimed he received the call at midnight just after the fire broke out.

Udaikant's uncle, Chiranjeevi demanded a high level investigation into the case.

"No compensation can justify the loss of our family members, only a high level investigation can. We want the culprit behind this punished," Chiranjeevi said.

The relatives have blamed the landlord of the building for the incident.

"Udaikant had given Rs 2.5 lakh as a loan to the landlord of the building. Both of them had decided that Udai will vacate the building only after the money was returned," Gopal, who is a nephew of Udaikant, said.

Udaikant and his entire family of five people lived on the first floor of the building, and no one could escape. His two daughters and a son along with his wife and he died in the fire.

According to the neighbours, the fire broke out at around 12.30 a.m.

Apart from Udaikant's family of five, four other people living on the second floor also died, while three were injured.

The godown was situated on the ground floor of a three-storey building. The building had no fire equipment and had only one staircase.

The injured were taken to the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital and other nearby hospitals for treatment.

The Delhi government announced Rs 10 lakh compensation to the families of those who died in the fire.

Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the government will also bear the expenses of the treatment of the injured and will give them Rs one lakh each.

( With inputs from IANS )