House owner in the fire incident blamed for electricity theft

Fire at garment shop; Case against owner for being responsible for deaths

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A fire broke out at a garment shop in Dana Bazar of the Cantonment area early Wednesday morning, killing seven people. The house owner, Sheikh Aslam Sheikh Yunus, has been accused of being responsible for the deaths and a case has been registered against him in the Chawani police station.

Investigations revealed that Aslam's commercial metre connection had been severed by Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) on March 30 due to an outstanding electricity bill amounting to Rs 45,360. Subsequently, he resorted to utilizing electricity from a domestic meter, sharing the load among five machines in the shop and three households within the building, leading to overloaded circuits and a heightened risk of fire.

The blaze erupted shortly after Aslam's sons closed the shop at 2 am, swiftly engulfing the premises in flames. The Sheikh family residing on the second floor, comprising three generations, including young children, succumbed to suffocation as they were trapped within the building. The lack of alternative escape routes compounded the severity of the situation.

Outstanding dues of electricity worth Rs 99,520

Aslam's total electricity bill arrears, including both commercial and domestic usage, amounted to a staggering Rs 99,520. Consequently, MSEDCL has forwarded a report to the Chawani police, urging the initiation of legal proceedings against Aslam under Section 135 (E) of the Indian Electricity Act.

What is mentioned in the FIR?

The accused Aslam was found guilty of the incident by the police. In which a large amount of electricity was used for the entire building. While a commercial meter is required in a shop, all the electrical load of a shop and the house was connected to a single domestic meter. Due to this, the electricity meter malfunctioned and short circuited, causing the fire. Moreover, as the windows of the building were closed and there was no room for ventilation, the fire and smoke went up through the stairs. As people on the second floor had no alternative way out, the family suffocated to death.