Mumbai: Cop critical after fire in Kherwadi police station

A police officer suffered 95 per cent burns after a fire broke out in the storeroom of Kherwadi police station on Monday The incident took place around 1230 pm when Assistant SubInspector Arvind Khot 57 was alone in the storeroom Sources told midday that Khot raised an alarm about the fire but before others could rush to help him and douse the flames he had sustained the burnsPolice sources told midday that the reason of the fire is yet to be ascertained They added that there were several cylinders in the storeroom as they had recently seized the same while taking action against hawkers but added the cylinders did not burst A police officer said ldquoThere was no noise of any cylinder blastrdquoAssistant SubInspector Arvind KhotASI Khot has been attached with Kherwadi police station for the past two years and was recently promoted to ASI rank from head constable He was in charge of maintaining data and records of all seized items which are kept in the storeroomThe incidentA police officer said ldquoI met Khot in the morning Around 1230 pm I heard someone screaming lsquoaag aagrsquo All police officers rushed to the storeroom and saw that a fire had broken out We took water from neighbouring houses to douse the fire but Khot was stuck inside the room Somehow we managed to extinguish the fire and rushed him to Sion hospitalrdquoAlso Read Thane Tanker carrying cooking oil overturns in Mumbra none hurtldquoWhen the fire broke out Khot was in the storeroom doing his work The fire spread rapidly We are suspecting that something wrong happened thererdquo said another copSources told midday that ldquoThe officers who rushed to the spot found that the storeroom was locked from inside They broke the door and removed the ASI Khot would have been aware of the fire due to the smell and the smoke And it takes time for fire to spread Khot could have come out of the room after learning of the fire This has raised suspicionsrdquoThe storeroom where the fire broke outAnother cop however said ldquoWe are sure that Khot was trying to extinguish fire As the storeroom is in the corner of the ground floor of the twostorey police station there are less chances of the noise being heard from insiderdquo Cops are also talking to Khotrsquos family members including his wife and kids to see if he had made any calls to them before the fire broke out midday has learnt that it was Khotrsquos 27th wedding anniversary on Monday and that he had told his wife that something big would happen before leaving for worklsquoInspecting cause of firersquoA fire officer told midday ldquoWe received a call around 1247 pm about the fire and rushed to Kherwadi police station with two fire engines We doused the fire but could not ascertain what caused it We however are sure that it was not due to cylinders We have informed the electricity department for further inspectionrdquoTwo fire engines were pushed to douse the fireldquoWhen we reached the police station we found that the door was broken We doused the remaining fire As ASI Khot was rescued and rushed to Sion hospital before we reached we sent a team to the hospital to check his condition and where he suffered the burns He was then shifted to Masina hospital We will check the CCTV cameras of the police station to find out how the fire broke outrdquoCondition criticalDoctors from Sion hospital told midday that ldquoWe had kept him in the ICU and gave the first round of treatment He suffered 95 per cent burns and is critical so we shifted him to Masina Hospital for further treatmentrdquoDCP Dikshit Gedam said ldquoASI Khot was seriously injured in this incident Doctors told us that his condition is serious The fire brigade are checking how the fire broke out We also didnrsquot get any information about how it startedrdquolsquoWhy delay in shiftingrsquoFamily members of the Khot alleged it was a cylinder blast and that many residents heard a loud noise ldquoWhen we reached the police station the storeroom was cleaned There were no cylinders Cops said it was not a cylinder blast But then where did the cylinders gordquo asked a family member of KhotHe added ldquoThe incident took place at 1230 pm and he was admitted to the Sion Hospital But it was only 7 hours after the incident that he was shifted to Masina hospitalrdquo