A massive fire broke out in the Telangana Forensic Science Laboratory building in the Nampally area here on Saturday, damaging computers and hard disks, raising apprehensions that crucial evidence of important cases might be lost.
According to Director General of the Fire Department Vikram Singh Mann, the blaze, prima facie, was caused by a short circuit in the electrical switchboard of the computer room on the first floor. However, there was no casualty.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao insinuated that the fire incident at the FSL, where forensic evidence of many crucial cases was stored, was a deliberate one.
The fire started a little after 10 am with thick smoke engulfing the three-storey building. Around three to four staff members present in the building ran out in panic. An office boy tried to douse the fire using handheld fire extinguishers but fell sick after inhaling the smoke and was to be hospitalised. Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control before it spread to the second storey, which contained the chemical lab.
DG (fire services) Vikram Singh Mann said, “It is quite an old building, built in 1978 or 1980. Prima facie, it appears the fire began in the electrical switchboard of the computer room on the first floor.” With the approach of the summer season, fire teams will conduct safety inspections at various residential, commercial and government buildings across the city as a preventive measure, he assured.
However, the BRS working president raised questions about the fire. As one of his party spokespersons wondered what was being destroyed in this fire, Rao wrote on his ‘X’ account, “I am guessing voice recordings of the famous ‘vote for note’ case. And trying to cover up for lack of evidence in cooked-up political cases like phone tapping.”