Mysore, Apr 12, 2013, DHNS : Ten year old boy makes a miraculous escape

Residents of Beedi colony, Azeez Sait Nagar in Mysore woke up to a tragedy on Friday. A fire followed by a gas cylinder burst had wreaked havoc on their neighbours house, killing five and seriously injuring two.

For the relatives of the deceased, the gruesome incident that occurred between 3 am and 3.30 am shook them to the core. While wails from the injured were heard from inside the burns ward at K R Hospital in the city, family members of the victims anxiously waited in the hospital.

While some were seen crying inconsolably, some others stared mutely in no particular direction. Some had cried in agony for too long to shed another tear.

The news of two small children, Arbia Fathima (9) and Arhan (2), being burnt alive, along with their grand father Ameer Jaan (70), mother Rizwana Banu (30) and her recently married sister Parveen Taj (27) in a span of few minutes was too devastating to fathom.

Only three survived the fire that virtually extinguished a family. Afroz Begum, wife of Ameer Jaan and Reshma Banu, the last of their four daughters are waging a battle between life and death at the hospital.

Afroz Begum, with 85 per cent burns was wailing meekly. Skin on most parts of her body has completely peeled off, due to the fire and the resultant cylinder blast.

Doctors at the hospital have dismissed the chances of her survival. Reshma Banu, with burn injuries to her face, hands, chest and upper leg, too was desolate.

Miraculous escape

Mohammed Aijaz lost his wife and two young children in the incident. His nine year old son Mohammed Haris had a miraculous escape. He was one of the eight members who was sleeping at the house.

“I woke up suddenly and saw that the fan had caught fire. The fire spread swiftly to the wall and I decided to run out of the house. Meanwhile, the bedroom wall collapsed and I ran away, unhurt” he said. He ran for a kilometre to Kalyanagiri and sought help from relatives to douse the fire.

The walls of the bedroom, where the family was sleeping had collapsed during the fire. The cylinder exploded after the wall collapsed, providing room for Haris to escape unhurt.

Background

Ameer Jaan was living with his family at the house for more than a decade. Ameer Jaan, who was practicing traditional medicine, and Afroz Begum had four daughters and no sons.

Three of their daughters were married, two of whom succumbed to the brutal incident. Reshma Banu, who was critically injured was working for a NGO and was the sole bread winner of the family.

Rizwana Banu, had visited along with her three children to her parents on Thursday. Parveen Taj, another daughter, who was married fifteen days ago, too was visiting from Kollegal. All the five bodies were buried at main burial grounds, behind central jail on Friday.

Tragedy recurs

Eversince the July 2009 incident (communal clashes), Udayagiri, has not witnessed any gruesome incidents. Friday’s tragedy brings to fore the area’s susceptibility to major crime incidents and its troubled past.

Vigil

The area in N R constituency is a hub of criminal activities, forcing the police to keep continued vigil over it. In 2009 alone, there were two major incidents involving two religious communities, resulting in the death of three people.

Following the incident in July 2009, Section 144 had been clamped in the area for two days.

Also, in December 2012, around 35 autos in Azeez Sait Nagar had been mysteriously gutted.

The reasons for the incident is still very vague.

Police say that the present incident does not warrant any security measure, as no problems are foreseen.

Financial dispute or love failure?

 Mysore, Apr 12, 2013

Two versions for the cause of murder were doing the rounds after the death of five persons of the same family in Beedi Colony, Azeez Sait Nagar in Mysore on Sunday.

While family members of the deceased alleged that the incident was solely a result of a financial dispute, rumours of a love affair having gone bad, which resulted in gruesome murder, also surfaced.

Mohammed Aijaz, husband of Rizwana Banu, said that a feud between his father-in-law Ameer Jaan and the accused Mohammed Ameer Jaan, resulted in the tragedy.

However, it is rumoured that the accused Mohammed Ameer Jaan was in love with Parveen Taj, who perished in the incident.

The relationship was opposed by Ameer Jaan, which infuriated Mohammed Ameer Jaan, who resorted to this hasty act, as a means of revenge.

However, the statement of Reshma Banu, who survived the incident, recorded by the police was contradictory to these rumours.

Five of a family die in fire in Mysore

MYSORE: Five of family members were charred to death including two kids and three others sustained serious injuries in a fire incident at Beedi workers colony in Aziz Sait Nagar in the wee hours of Friday.

While LPG cylinder has exploded in the incident, experts are ascertaining whether it is the reason for the blast, which woke up neighbours. There are also suspicion that the fire was ignited deliberately as the neighbours have told cops that the door was locked from outside.

Forensic Science Laboratory officials from Bangalore are ascertaining the reason for the fire tragedy. Police said deceased have been identified as Ameer Jaan (80), his two daughters Parveen Taj (30) and, Rizwana Banu (36) and her two kids Mohammed Arhan (9) and Arbia Banu (2). The injured are Afran Begum, wife of Ameer Jaan, Reshma, his daughter and his grandson Yaseen Pasha. They are treated to at Krishnarajendra Hospital.

According to eye witnesses, they heard the blast at 3.20am and rushed to the spot. They could rescue only three persons as the five were already dead. The fire fighters contained the damage but the house is badly damaged. The fire personnel battled the flames and contained the damage as it is thickly populated area.

The house has a drawing room, a bedroom and a kitchen and eight people were inside when the incident occurred.

Ameer Jaan was practitioner of herbal medicine and used to give medicine to people in the colony. While his daughter Parveen was into beedi rolling and Reshma was Anganwadi worker. Another daughter is married and stays in Kollegal.

Siddegowda, Fire Officer, Bannimantap fire station mentioned that around 3.55 am they were alerted. Going by the crime scene, we believe that fire occurred much before the LPG cylinder blast. Interestingly, a LPG cylinder which was used by the family has not exploded. Two fire tenders took half an hour to douse the flames.

The city Police Commissioner K L Sudheer said one of the injured Reshma has alleged that family had enmity with a driver Amir Khan.

Top cop said Amir Khan often used to visit house and take medicine from Ameer Jaan. He was also interested in Parveen and had expressed his wish to marry her. However the family refused the proposal and got him married to another person. “We are suspecting someone has put the fire from outside the house. There are chances of lovelorn Amir Khan committing the crime,” Sudheer told TOI. We are looking into other angles, he stated.

Sources said Amir Khan has been picked up for questioning. A case has been registered at Udayagiri Police Station.