Day after,cops clueless on lab fire

The statements of laboratory staff and eyewitnesses have been recorded. A dog squad was also brought in to check for traces of any explosive material.

However,the samples collected from the charred laboratory hours after the fire had not reached the Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratories,Kalina,until late on Wednesday evening.

Also,FSL director MV Garad stressed that they would only chemically analyse the debris for traces of any inflammable substance. “The FSL’s contribution will be limited to analysing the debris to trace whether any explosive or inflammable substance or petroleum hydrocarbon was present that could have led to the fire. Besides these,we won’t be able to say what caused the fire.”

Besides a few glass fragments,the samples collected include debris from various parts of the room.

Officers of the Trombay Police who visited the accident site said the small room also housed a refrigerator,an oven and a fuming chamber in one corner. A short circuit in any of these has not been ruled out. The small room in the centrally air-conditioned Modular Laboratory building also had a single door with no other entry or exit points or even a window. While this prevented the fire from spreading,it also hindered the possibility of Singh and Bag escaping.

The policemen who entered the charred room said almost everything had been burnt badly,including the overhead lights as well as other appliances in the room.

A senior security official from the Department of Atomic Energy insisted that there had been no delay in combating the fire.

“The fire broke out at 12.05 pm and the fire tenders arrived almost immediately. The fire was huge hence they could douse it only after 45 minutes,” he said. “The BARC has various emergency responders to deal with various scenarios and the fire was also dealt with effectively.”