Fire in Additional DGP’s car,driver suffers minor injuries

There was panic among bystanders and police officers when a minor fire broke out in the official car of Additional Director of Police (state traffic) Arup Patnaik while he was on his way to Mantralaya on Monday. While Patnaik escaped,his operator-cum-driver Bagal Kote suffered burn injuries.

The Colaba police,who conducted an investigation into the incident,confirmed the fire occurred owing to petrol leakage and short-circuit. While Patnaik was on his way to Mantralaya in his Tata Indigo,he saw smoke and sparks from the engine,police said. Patnaik immediately got down from the car. Kote suffered minor burns on his hand while checking the source of the fire.

The fire brigade reached the spot and extinguished the fire. A bomb disposal squad rushed to the spot to investigate.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Colaba division) Iqbal Sheikh said,“Initial inquiry shows the fire was caused due to a short-circuit in the engine.”

“The motor transport division responsible for the vehicles allotted to police officers will now check the vehicle to check what caused the problem. Thankfully,no one was injured severely though Kote suffered some superficial burn injuries,” Patnaik said.