Kamal Ghorui
The businessman’s son said the car wasn’t connected to the charging point when the fire started
Times News NetworkIndore: A survivor of the house fire that killed eight members of an extended family here rejected on Thursday what he termed a “false narrative” about the blaze originating at an EV charging point and electronic locks preventing firefighers from getting into the three-story building.Polymer businessman Manoj Pugalia’s son Saurabh, one among four survivors of the tragedy, said the family’s EV hatchback wasn’t even connected to the charging point when the blaze started around 3.30am Wednesday. “Since the car charger wasn’t connected to the power source, it is unclear how a short circuit could occur at the charging point,” he told reporters.Saurabh also discounted the official theory that rescuers failed to enter the Brajeshwari Annexe building because the opening mechanism of electronic locks got disabled without power supply. He said the source of the fire could be something “external”, citing videos circulating on social media that show an electricity pole outside the building on fire.Pugalia, his daughter-in-law Simran and six relatives from Bihar’s Kishanganj, including a cancer patient and two children, died in the fire.DCP Amrendra Singh said forensic teams are still analysing the charred vehicle and the electrical circuitry of the house to pinpoint the cause of the blaze. “There have been instances of electric vehicles catching fire even when they were not being charged. We are exploring all angles, including what the family members have said, to establish the exact cause of the fire.”CM Mohan Yadav met the survivors and assured them of a scientific probe. “We will wait for the detailed probe report and take appropriate steps so that such tragic accidents don’t recur,” he said.
