Beedi burns down house, 50-yr-old charred to death

Gurgaon: A 50-year-old man was burnt to death in his sleep after his house caught fire in the Vijay Park area in Old Gurgaon on Wednesday morning.
Police said that Om Prakash alias Bittu, a resident of Pratap Nagar, was alone in his house when it caught fire from a ‘beedi’.

The fire broke out between 3-4am and spread to the part of the house where Om Prakash was sleeping, leading to his death.

The room where his body was found was locked from the inside and there was no sign of any movement, indicating that he was charred in his sleep.

Om Prakash, who lived alone in his two-storey house, was allegedly likely under the influence of liquor.

According to police, he was smoking a ‘beedi’ in a room on the first floor but fell asleep with the burning ‘beedi’ in his hand from which his bed caught fire.

The room filled up with smoke and he fell unconscious, they added.

Ramesh, a resident of Vijay Park, woke up around 5am and spotted the fire. He informed police and alerted neighbours.

“The fire tender reached within a few minutes but he could not be saved,” said Ramesh, adding Om Prakash did not intreract much with his neighbours.

The fire tender brought the fire under control within 30 minutes and stopped it from spreading to the neighbouring buildings. However, Om Prakash was dead by the time police entered his house.

His body was sent for a post-mortem and his family members were informed.

“Om Prakash was staying alone in the house. His family leaves in the Pratap Nagar area,” said police spokesperson Subhash Boken, adding that no one had filed any complaint yet and there seemed to be no foul play in the case.

Ramesh said that the house had been constructed on a 60-square-yard plot and included two rooms on the ground floor and one on the first floor.

According to neighbours, Om Prakash was a regular drinker and did not have a permanent job.