Chandigarh fire: ‘We pointed out safety concerns, owners said khuud theek kar lena’

On Tuesday, one of the firm’s employees, Komal, 21, recalled to The Indian Express how her repeated complaints about a possible short-circuit had fallen on deaf ears and the firm’s owners had asked them to rectify glitches on their own.

Police, on Monday, had arrested the owners of the electrical firm — identified as Rajesh Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar, both residents of Mohali — and had booked the owner of the building from which the firm operated — one Joginder Singh, a resident of Sector 42 — in the case. Investigators said that all the accused have been booked for causing death due to negligence under Section 304A, and common intention under Section 34 of the IPC.

Komal, a resident of Ramdarbar, told The Indian Express, “We had on several occasions tried telling the owners about the sparks that we noticed and the possibility of a short-circuit in the huge old electrical board located inside the basement. I joined the firm in November 2022 and had started noticing the sparks from Day 1. Six women had been hired by the firm. Whenever we used to make tea on the heater after plugging it in the electricity board, we noticed the sparks.”

Komal added that the most common retort of the owners when they pointed out the problems was “khuud theek kar lena (rectify it yourself). Komal, who took the day off from work on Monday owing to family commitments, further said, “Muskan (one of the deceased), had joined the firm six months ago. She used to make tea on the heater. She, too, had complained about the faulty wiring and sparks, but to no avail. After hearing about the incident on Monday, I had rushed to the spot. Once I reached there i found that everything had burnt down.

On Tuesday, Komal visited GMCH-32 along with the family members of both the victims, who were waiting to collect the bodies of their kin after autopsy.

Meanwhile, the kin of three women workers who had a narrow escape from the fire on Monday stated that the only reason the three were able to survive was because they were rushed to GMCH-32 in a police van instead of an ambulance, which arrived late to the spot.

Contacted, Jasbir Singh, the owner of the building from which the firm operated, said, “Sufficient fire safety equipment had been installed in the basement but none of them worked when the fire broke out on Monday.”

A police officer said, “A team of forensics experts from CFSL-36 visited the premises of the electrical firm and collected evidence. The owners Rajesh Kumar Thakur and Sanjeev Thakur of Mohali were arrested and released on regular bail.” A case has been registered at Sector 31 police station.

For one family, a long wait to claim body for carrying  out last rites

The family of Muskan Thapa, one of the women who had died of asphyxiation in a fire that swept through a Chandigarh factory,  failed to cremate her body on Tuesday as the autopsy could not be completed on time.

The two women Muskan Thapa alias Jyoti, 18, and Suhani, 18 — both residents of Phase 2 Ramdarbar — had been rushed to GMCH-32 after being rescued from the smoke-filled building by firefighters on Monday, where doctors had declared them dead.

“We have been here outside the mortuary in GMCH-32 since today [Tuesday] morning. Some of our relatives had gone to the Sector 31 police station. It is now around 5 pm and the authorities are just telling us that the body of Muskan Thapa can only be handed over to us on Wednesday morning. They say that the doctors have so far conducted the post-mortem of only one body, that of Suhani. We are completely shattered,” a kin of Muskan one of the two victims, said. 

A police officer said, “Due to the many autopsies scheduled for today, the autopsy of one of the victims could not be held. It will now be held tomorrow [Wednesday].”