Summer safety risks under renewed focus: Police probe if faulty wiring led to South Delhi fire at retired IAS officer's house

NEW DELHI: Two days after a retired IAS officer lost his life when a fire broke out following an AC blast on the ground floor of his three-storey residence in south Delhi’s Hauz Khas Enclave, police on Friday registered a case of negligence and suspect that poor or faulty electrical wiring triggered the explosion.

An inspection was conducted by the electrical inspector of Delhi govt and police, a senior cop said. TOI visited the house and found one of the rooms charred and two others badly affected.

Abhishek, the manager of Dhanendra Kumar (79), the deceased, said the fire broke out in the room of Kumar’s son, Gaurav, who had arrived from London, where he lives, on May 26.

According to Abhishek, the AC was rarely used and only switched on when Gaurav stayed in the house. It was serviced aweek before his arrival.

Staff members employed by Kumar, who was the first chairperson of competition commission of India (CCI) after serving as India’s executive director on the World Bank board, and neighbours alleged that firefighters were late to reach the house. As a result, they along with police personnel had to carry out the initial rescue operation.

Abhishek claimed he immediately called the fire brigade on being alerted about the blaze, but the firefighters arrived nearly an hour later. “Meanwhile, we tried controlling the blaze using buckets of water. Though there are fire extinguishers in the house, the flames spread rapidly and the blaze was too massive to be put out with them,” he said.

Delhi fire service (DFS), though, denied the allegations, saying the fire tenders were rushed immediately and that the blaze was brought under control within 56 minutes of receiving the emergency call.

An RWA official claimed that the first fire tenders that reached the spot were not carrying sufficient water, while a larger one was dispatched later. “Another major problem was cars parked on the lane, preventing the fire tenders from manoeuvring properly,” the official said.

A mesh installed in the room where the blaze broke out prevented water from effectively reaching it. Cops later managed to remove the mesh with the help of sticks to facilitate firefighting efforts.

Pooja, another local, said neighbours tried to douse the blaze with the help of water pipes before the firefighters arrived. She, too, claimed they were late to reach the spot.

Abhilash Kumar Malik, chief fire officer of DFS, said once its control room received information about the blaze at 11.24pm on Wednesday, fire tenders from Geetanjali and Bhikaji Cama Place fire stations were rushed to the spot without delay. The Geetanjali team, stationed closer to the house, reached first and began fighting the blaze, he said.