Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The toll in Monday night’s firecracker blaze in Hingoli’s Kapda Bazaar rose to three on Wednesday after firefighter Dilip Dodke (52) succumbed to severe burns. Hours later, police registered an FIR against the deceased owner of the cracker stock for allegedly storing the combustibles illegally at his house.
Police, meanwhile, booked Vijaykumar Ramkrishna Basatwar (76) who himself died in the fire, for allegedly keeping firecrackers at his house without a licence. The third person killed was Avinash Bangar (24) of Vanjarwada.
“Basatwar, who died in the incident, has been booked under sections 288 and 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and section 9B(1)(b) of the Explosives Act,” Lodha said. Police said Bangar had rushed in to help Basatwar when the fire broke out. Both suffered fatal burns. Dodke, a resident of the municipal council colony, was part of the team sent to control the raging fire.
Hingoli SP Shrenik Lodha said the FIR was registered at Hingoli city police station on Wednesday evening following a complaint by businessman Shailesh Nandedkar, who lives opposite Basatwar’s house. The blaze broke out around 7pm on Monday and firefighters battled it for hours before bringing it under control early on Tuesday.
Dodke, a Hingoli municipal fire brigade employee, had suffered around 80% burns while battling the blaze in Marwadi Galli. Several houses and vehicles were damaged in the fire, with property losses estimated at more than Rs 2 crore. The fire brigade vehicle caught fire during the operation, leaving him critically injured. The exact cause of the blaze is still under investigation.
He died at a private hospital in Latur on Wednesday.