Mosquito coil turns fatal for BPO employee

Sources said Sanjay, (32), a bachelor working in an IT major who was a resident of 52nd street in TVS Nagar in Anna Nagar West Extension, had talked with his mother at around 10.30 pm before he retired to his second floor airconditioned single room in the terrace.

At around 7.45 am, Sanjay’s younger sister, also working in an IT major, raised an alarm when she came to the terrace and noticed smoke emanating from her brother’s room. Since repeated knocks did not elicit a response, Sanjay’s father Sridhar forced open the room’s window to find his son lying motionless in the bed.

The family broke into the room and found half the portion of the bed was burnt in the fire started by the mosquito coil falling on the bed. Both Sanjay’s legs were charred in the fire, which may have died down in due course. Smoke continued to billow from the room, though. The family approached JJ Nagar Police at around 8 am seeking to help them complete the procedures.

Inspector Ravi and sub-Inspector Rajprabhu moved the body to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital (KMCH) for a post-mortem examination. An empty liquor bottle and a glass were among the things recovered from the room.

“We suspect the mosquito coil, which the deceased had lit, may have fallen on the bed. He was so drunk he could not get up from the bed even after his legs caught fire”, said an official privy to the investigation. “However, we have not ruled out the possibility of a suicide. We are awaiting the preliminary post-mortem report which would establish the cause of death”, the official hastened to add.