New Delhi, June 13 (PTI): Delhi Police is investigating a masked woman captured on CCTV camera entering a five-storey building in the Govindpuri area at 2:23 am on Friday, minutes before a fire killed three family members and injured two others there, officials said on Saturday.
According to police, the nearly 50-second footage captured by a CCTV camera installed in a parking area in Gali No. 1, Tughlakabad Extension, shows the woman entering the building with her face covered with a dupatta.
Moments later, a bright glow or flash is visible from inside the gate, after which the woman is seen leaving the building and walking away, police said.
Investigators suspect the woman may have triggered the fire, though her exact role is not yet established.
“The footage is being examined, and all possible angles are being investigated. The identity of the woman is yet to be ascertained. Officials are reconstructing the sequence of events leading to the fire,” a police source said.
The fire killed Pankaj (28), his maternal grandmother Sushila Devi (70) and his sister Soni (20). Two other family members, Pankaj’s mother Guddi Devi (50), who is speech-impaired, and his younger sister Moni (18), are undergoing treatment with critical injuries.
Police said a PCR call regarding the blaze was received at 2:31 am, after which firefighters and police personnel launched a rescue operation and evacuated several residents trapped inside the smoke-filled structure.
Earlier, police said that a preliminary inquiry suggested that the fire may have originated from a short circuit on the ground floor, where several parked two-wheelers caught fire.
However, the CCTV footage has now prompted investigators to examine the possibility of foul play, officials said.
Forensic teams and local police inspected the scene and are analysing technical and physical evidence collected from the building, they said.
On Saturday, police clarified that a single individual did not own the building; rather, each floor contained two separate flats, each owned by the family living in it.
Survivors, meanwhile, recounted narrow escapes and the loss of homes built with years of savings.
Mohammad Sarfaraz, who lived on the third floor with his wife and three children, escaped the tragedy because the family had travelled to Bihar for summer vacation.
His relatives said the family was informed about the fire over the phone, and they are now uncertain about where they will stay after returning to Delhi.
Prakash Mandal, who lived on the second floor, said he woke up around 2.30 am after feeling suffocated, and found his room filled with smoke.
With no clear escape routes in sight, he used a saree thrown by a girl from a neighbouring flat, which he tied to a balcony pipe to climb down.
“For a moment, I thought I would never see my children again,” Mandal said, showing injuries on his arms sustained during the escape.
Radheshyam, who lived on the fifth floor with his wife and daughters, said thick smoke engulfed the apartment, reducing visibility to near zero.
He eventually broke open a door to reach his daughters and the family escaped by jumping onto a neighbouring rooftop from the terrace.
“God has given us a second life, but now we have no place to live,” he said.
Several residents said that they had been away attending weddings, visiting relatives or travelling, which saved their lives.
Many families whose flats have been sealed said they are now waiting for the authorities to assess the damage and allow them access to their homes.
Their immediate concern was finding temporary accommodation.
The incident followed 10 days after a massive fire ripped through a bed and breakfast hotel in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar, killing 23 people, including many foreign nationals. PTI SSJ ARI ARI
(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)
