Mumbai: Senior inspector says Kherwadi cop never sought a transfer

ASI Arvind Khot sustained 95pc burns in the fire (right) Rajendra Mulik, senior PI, Kherwadi police station

The senior inspector of Kherwadi police station, where a cop sustained fatal burns following a blast, said on Wednesday that his junior never approached him for a transfer out of the storeroom. Earlier, the family of assistant sub-inspector Arvind Khot had claimed that he was overwhelmed with storeroom work and wanted a transfer.

Senior PI Rajendra Mulik told mid-day, "I joined this police station only six months back and I never got any complaint from ASI Khot. He was an active person and like our family. He was required to keep safe all the materials seized by the police which was not high-pressure work. We never got any complaints from him or his family. We understand that the family is in trauma but we are doing an in-depth investigation."

ASI Khot was critically injured after an explosion triggered a fire in the storeroom of Kherwadi police station on Monday, said the cops. He died the next day. "We are very sure that this is just an accident and ASI Khot got stuck inside the storeroom. We checked the CCTV cameras and found that he entered the room around 12.15 pm and around 12.40 pm, the blast took place. Khot was doing his work properly and we had no complaints against him," Mulik said.

Kherwadi police station where ASI Arvind Khot worked

The senior PI said they suspect the explosion occurred inside a cupboard that had several seized mobile phones. The cupboard got bent and all the mobile phones inside it were found burnt. "It was Khot's wedding anniversary and he was very happy. He met many officers and went inside the storeroom for his work. He was sealing the seized material using fire and candle wax. It is possible that some papers came in contact with the fire and spread. We are checking all angles. Things will come out soon about how the fire broke out," Mulik said.

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The senior PI said the storeroom had many perfume bottles and the inflammable liquids might have added to the fire. A source from Kherwadi police station said, "We heard a loud noise and saw smoke coming out of the storeroom. We broke open the store and tried to extinguish the fire. We took the help of the traffic police and reached Sion hospital in 12-15 minutes. We tried to save him but he had sustained over 95 per cent burns," said Mulik.

Khot's colleagues pooled in money for his medical expenses at Masina Hospital where he was taken later, said Mulik. DCP Dikshit Gedam said, "There are no allegations that we have received from ASI Khot's family against Senior PI Mulik or any other officer. We are doing an in-depth investigation into this case. It looks like an accident and we have found nothing suspicious till now. From the post-mortem report, we found that ASI Khot died due to burns and failure of his organs."