‘Short circuit led to Secretariat fire’

Thiruvananthapuram: A preliminary investigation by two separate teams – police and disaster management authority – inferred that a faulty electrical circuit of a wall-mounted fan caused the fire at the Secretariat building on Tuesday.
While the police team is led by SP (special cell) V Ajith under the direct supervision of ADGP (administration) Manoj Abraham, the team constituted by chief secretary Vishwas Mehta is headed by disaster management commissioner A Kowsigan. Both teams visited the general administration department (political) section situated in the north sandwich block on Wednesday.
“Officials in the section had informed the maintenance division about the faulty fan and it was fixed on Friday. But, the fan continued to function erratically. The electric switch was left in the on position most of the time, which seems to be the reason for the ‘ignition’,” government sources said.
The ignition resulted in the burning of the electrical wire and it spread to the fan that fell down and the fire then spread to the files. The primary inference of the fire and rescue team is that the fire was caused by short circuit.
Cantonment police registered an FIR under the Section 306 (1)(c) (FA) of the police standing order on the basis of a complaint by state additional protocol officer A P Rajeevan. In the FIR, police said the files on allotment of accommodation in government guest houses in the past and copies of gazette notifications were burnt in the fire.
Officials from the forensic team and electrical inspectorate also visited the spot. Since the issue has a political dimension and there are allegations of sabotage, government ordered a foolproof investigation.
PWD buildings division that examined the spot, gave a primary report to PWD minister G Sudhakaran. In the report, it has been said the short circuit led to the fan catching fire which then melted and the fire spread to nearby curtains, shelves and papers. The minister said before the high-level team completed the investigation and submitted a report to the government, the opposition should not resort to anti-government propaganda.
Meanwhile, the cabinet entrusted additional chief secretary (home and vigilance) to take all necessary steps to strengthen the security shortcomings at Secretariat. KSDMA and fire and rescue departments had conducted fire audits and had submitted the reports, but those haven’t been implemented yet.