UP: Couple, 3 minor daughters killed in Kanpur building blaze
Kanpur, May 5 (PTI): A couple and their three minor daughters died in a blaze that broke out in a five-storey building in Chamanganj area here, police said on Monday.
Huge flames engulfed the entire building in the Prem Nagar area that houses shoe manufacturing units on its first and second floors, they said.
The bodies of Mohammad Danish 45, his wife Nazneen Saba, 42, were retrieved from the fourth floor at around 1 am, while those of their daughters -- Sara, 15, Simra, 12, and Inaya, 7, -- were found on the same floor at around 6 am, said Additional DCP (Central) Rajesh Srivastava.
It took firefighters several hours to gain access to the fourth floor, officials said, adding the victims were taken to the Ursula Horseman Memorial Hospital, where the doctors declared them brought dead.
According to police, the neighbours noticed huge flames and thick smoke emanating from the building on Sunday night and alerted the fire department and police.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Seesmau) Manjay Singh said an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire.
Preliminary probe suggests that the fire started in the basement and engulfed the first and second floors before being noticed by the neighbours, the ACP added.
"Initial suspicions point towards a possible short circuit or faults in the internal wiring, potentially originating from the floors where the shoe factory was operating," the ACP said.
"The fire led to blasts in a couple of domestic LPG cylinders that worsened the situation," he added.
State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams were also called to help the firefighters in the relief operations to extinguish the blaze completely, said ACP (Colonelganj) TB Singh.
"People from over half a dozen neighbouring buildings were evacuated to ensure their safety,” he added.
The officials have been instructed to investigate the building's legality and fire safety status and take action accordingly, a senior official said.
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Minister Parameshwara says remarks on properties linked to drug peddlers 'misunderstood'
Tumakuru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said his recent remarks on the demolition of properties linked to those involved in narcotics trade were "misunderstood and misinterpreted".
His clarification follows remarks made two days ago on the government's uncompromising crackdown on the drug menace, including action against properties linked to foreign nationals allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
"It is unfortunate. It is taken in the wrong sense. I didn't mean that tomorrow itself I am going to send bulldozers and demolish the houses. That was not my intention. It was wrongly taken," he told reporters here.
Responding to Congress MLC K Abdul Jabbar's question in the legislative council on the growing drug menace in Bengaluru, Davangere and coastal districts, the minister on Thursday detailed the extensive enforcement measures initiated since the Congress government assumed office.
Pointing to the involvement of some foreign nationals, the minister had said, "Many foreign students from African countries have come to Karnataka. They are into the drug business. We catch them and register cases against them, but they want the case to be registered because once the case is registered, we cannot deport them."
"We have gone to the extent of demolishing the rented building where they stay," he had said.
