Silvester D'Souza

Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Feb 5: In a tragic incident which occurred in the early hours on Friday February 5 at Tallur near here, the owner of a cloth store there was burnt alive, as he had got stuck inside the shop when the flames raged all of a sudden.

Ganesh Dress Centre located near national highway 66 at Tallur turned into ashes in this accidental fire. Its owner, Koti Poojary (76), was killed.

Koti Poojary was running this shop at Tallur since the last about 25 years. He had made it a practice to start from his home early for a walk, reaching his shop at about 5 am. He would then open the shop's door, light an oil lamp near the space set aside for puja, and return home, duly locking the shop thereafter. He would then return to his shop and open its doors for business at 9 am.

It is said that today too, Koti arrived at his shop at 5 am, opened the lock of the shutter, entered the shop, and closed the shutter from inside. When he switched the main switch on, fire got ignited because of short circuit, it is believed. As the store was full of clothes, flames spread fast. As Poojary had kept petrol he had bought for his scooter the previpous day inside the shop, it worked as catalyst for the fire, locals said. Poojary, who got caught by this unexpected turn of events, suffocated to death and was charred.

The cap on his head, as well as wrist watch and footwear were found intact on his burnt body. Clothes valued at about Rs 2.5 lac are believed to have turned into ashes in this accident.

A medical shop, a shop dealing in cellphones and a hotel are located nearby this shop. ;But no one noticed the fire for a considerable period although the shop is located adjacent to the highway, as the shutter was closed, it is reported. All the shops and establishments in Tallur remain closed for the day as a mark of grief over this incident and respect for the deceased.

Policemen from the town rushed to the spot after being informed about the incident. Tallur gram panchayat president, Anand Billava, advocate, T B Shetty, and several others visited the spot and shared the grief with family members. Body of the deceased was taken to the government hospital here for postmortem.

Poojary is survived by two sons and a daughter.