Hyderabad: Satish Batcha, owner of Batcha Furniture shop in Nampally, which was gutted in a fire on Saturday, January 24, resulting in five deaths, has been arrested by Hyderabad police.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Praveen Kumar said the cause of the fire was likely due to a short circuit; however, Telangana Fire, Disaster Response, Emergency and Civil Defence Department Director General Vikram Singh Mann told PTI that the cellar, in which the fire broke out, was being used to store furniture, chemicals, plastics, rexine, cloth and foam mattresses.
Families were also provided accommodation in the cellars, which were meant only for parking.
The victims have been identified as two men, in their 30s, who were workers in the building, two children, aged seven and 11, sons of a security guard of the building, whose family was residing in the basement and a 60-year-old woman who worked as a sweeper-cum-security woman and stayed in another room in the basement.
The children were alone in their room when the fire broke out, as their father, the security guard, and his wife had gone out for work.
The two workers had rushed inside to save the children and the woman, but as the fire intensified, they were unable to make it out.
Officials were able to recover the bodies after rescue operations of over 20 hours, as thick smoke made it difficult to carry out the operation. Moreover, the approach to the basement was totally blocked due to the dumping of furniture and related raw materials, which made it difficult for rescue personnel to gain access, officials said.
Fire tenders, besides a skylift and a firefighting robot were also used during the rescue operations.
Expressing grief over the deaths, Telangana Revenue Minister P Srinivas Reddy announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased.
(With inputs from PTI.)
