CID assumes control of Attibele fire tragedy investigation
Bengaluru: In the wake of the heart-wrenching Attibele firecracker blaze that claimed the lives of 14 individuals, the Karnataka government responded by transferring the case to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). This decision came just a day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah initiated the move, highlighting the gravity of the incident. A team from the CID, led by Superintendent of Police Venkatesh N, immediately arrived at the site, taking charge of the ongoing investigation.
At the scene, a senior CID officer Pravin Pawar conducted an assessment of the situation. The CID team also took up the challenging task of identifying the owners of vehicles that were reduced to ashes during the fire on that fateful Saturday evening.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, heavy machinery was deployed, including JCBs, to dismantle the remnants of the godown that bore the brunt of the massive inferno. These efforts aimed to ensure a thorough investigation into the incident.
The preliminary findings of the ongoing probe have shed light on a series of violations. It has been revealed that the owner of Shri Balaji Traders, Ramaswamy Reddy, possessed a license solely permitting the storage and sale of a maximum of 1,000 kg of crackers. Crucially, Reddy lacked authorisation to stockpile the explosive materials in the godown, which was illegally erected just a stone's throw away from the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border. The tragic sequence of events unfolded around 3:20 pm last Saturday when a lorry carrying firecrackers arrived from Tamil Nadu. During the unloading process, it is suspected that the vehicle inadvertently made contact with a high-tension wire, setting off the devastating blaze that claimed the lives of 14 individuals, all hailing from Tamil Nadu.
It is learnt that a few female workers managed to escape through a narrow backdoor upon noticing smoke inside the godown. Following post-mortem examinations, the bodies were released to their grief-stricken families.