A physically-challenged man in his mid-70s living in an old age home at Gole Market in New Delhi died of burn injuries sustained in a fire struck by a 39-year-old “mentally disturbed” electrician in the early hours of Monday. Two other old men sustained minor injuries. The accused has told the police that he committed the offence to attract the attention of the media.
According to the police, the call about fire at the age old home, Antyodaya, in the rear portion of Chetanalaya, a charity institute run by St. Columba’s School, was received around 3.30 am. A couple of fire engines were rushed to the spot. In the meantime, the security guard of the old age home broke open the door of the dormitory where the fire had broken out and managed to take out three men who were rushed to the LNJP Hospital. While two of them sustained minor injuries, one, identified only as Arora so far, succumbed to the burns later. “He was a physically-challenged man and could not run in time, suffering serious burn injuries, while the other two managed to escape,” said a police officer. He added that the old age home could accommodate seven to eight old men but only three were staying at the time.
The security guard at the old age home said that when he was rushing towards the dormitory where fire had broken out, he saw the accused, V.R. Santosh Kumar, alias, Anand Raghvan, sitting on the terrace and apparently “enjoying the drama”.
‘When I asked him who did this, he readily admitted that he had done it,” said the guard.
Santosh told the police that he has been having problems getting justice in his case, apparently pertaining to some family matter. He said that he had approached the Kerala police, as well as the Kerala human rights commission, but nobody heard his case. “He told us that he set the room ablaze just to attract the attention of everybody through media. We have arrested him,” said the police officer.