Air cargo fire: Probe team rules out short circuit

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, JUNE 6. Short circuit did not cause fire at the MSIL- maintained Bangalore Air Cargo Complex on Sunday, according to the Electrical Inspectorate.

"Electrical short circuit is ruled out as the cause of fire," Mr. Krishna Murthy, Chief Electrical Inspector, told The Hindu on Tuesday.

The probe team came to this conclusion after finding that no miniature circuit breaker at the godown had tripped. These circuit breakers were designed to trip whenever there was a short circuit, Mr. Naik said.

On Sunday, an electrician at the godown had followed the regular practice and switched off all the points at the time of closure. However, when some security personnel shouted that there was fire, the electrician manually tripped the power to the entire complex. Therefore, short-circuit could not have taken place.

The inspecting team from the Inspectorate concluded its inspection on Monday. Mr. Naik said the team conducted "meggering" tests to determine installation insulation resistance and used an "earthing kit" to determine earthing resistance. The Inspectorate was expected to submit a report on the findings in two days.

Meanwhile, the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Mr. B.N.Nagaraj, said police would seek the help of the Forensic Department to determine the cause of fire. While sabotage could not be ruled out at this stage, hard evidence would be required before coming to such a conclusion.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. T.Madiyal, said the investigating team comprised the police, the fire service and the Forensic Department personnel.

When contacted, the Director of the Forensic Science Laboratory, Dr. Mohan said so far no request had been received for a forensic investigation.

Although Mr. R.V.Deshpande, Minister for Major and Medium Industries Minister, had said that an inquiry would be ordered, if necessary, the Government remained silent on the issue.

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