Balasore: A youth was charred to death while being asleep at his house after the house caught fire at Aradabazar in Balasore district early Saturday morning.
The deceased was identified as Bhawani Shankar Jena. Sources said, Bhawani was a resident of Keonjhar and worked with a private company in Balasore.
According to sources, the incident occurred at around 3.30 am when Bhawani was fast asleep inside the house. Suddenly, a fire broke out and engulfed the whole house within seconds.
Unable to come out, Bhawani was charred to death on the spot. Though the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, it is suspected that an electric short-circuit might have triggered the blaze. However, rumours were rife that someone might have intentionally set the house on fire over some previous enmity with Bhawani.
After hearing Bhawani’s screams for help, neighbours rushed to the spot and tried to save him. But the intensity of the fire was so high that no one could even get close to the entrance of the house.
“We rushed to his house after hearing his screams. He was crying for help and trying to come out of the house but could not as the gates were locked. Even we could not save him as the intensity of the fire was so high,” a neighbour said.
Meanwhile, all the household items like electronic gadgets, important documents and groceries were gutted. Bhawani’s bike that was parked outside the house was also reduced to ashes in the fire.
After getting the information, a fire tender team reached the village and doused the flames. Had, the fire fighters reached a little early, Bhawani could have been saved, a local said adding that the fire tenders could not reach the spot because of a narrow lane that is connecting the locality.
Police Saturday morning reached the spot and launched a probe. The body was recovered and sent for post-mortem. The investigation will also focus on the cause of the fire – if it was caused by an electric short circuit or if someone had intentionally started it, police said.
