BENGALURU: Three members of a priest family were charred to death in a fire accident in Kekodu village of Thirthahalli in Shivamogga district on Sunday while a member of the family survived the fire incident and has been undergoing treatment at a hospital.
The names of the deceased have been identified as Raghavendra Kekodu (65), his wife Nagaratna (55) and his elder son Sriram (30). His younger son Bharat (28) is said to have suffered serious burn injuries and has been treated at a hospital.
Though the exact cause of the fire is yet to ascertain by the officials concerned but locals suspect that the family might have resorted to commit suicide over a property dispute. Locals suspect that the family might set firewood stocked in their house to set themselves ablaze to end their lives. Fire and Emergency Services personnel and police visited the spot.
Shivamogga Superintendent of Police Mithun Kumar said investigations are underway into the fire accident at Kekodu village and stated that the bodies were discovered in a room and were lying one above the other.
Meanwhile, a fire broke out at Mandya Milk Union (Manmul) at Gejjagere of Maddur in Mandya on Sunday at around 7.45 am and the cause of fire is said to be a short circuit at his packing unit. The fire destroyed boilers however none of the persons were injured in the incident. Seven fire tenders from Maddur, Mandya and Srirangaptan brought the fire under control.
The Manmul mega dairy was inaugurated by Union Minister for Home Amit Shah on December 31 last year.
Fire Officer K.P. Gururaj told reporters in Mandya that the mega dairy at Gejjalagere had not obtained No Objection Certificate from Fire and Emergency Services and stated that before the personnel from his department reached the fire accident site the fire had destroyed packing materials and the fire was contained before it spread to ghee making unit at the dairy.
Gururaj assured suitable action against Manmul over the fire accident and investigations are being held to ascertain the cause of fire at Manmul.
