Spark from toy battery triggers fire in Rajkot shop

Rajkot: A customer’s absent-mindedness cost a mobile phone shop owner over Rs 5 lakh as his shop got gutted in Bhaktinagar area of Rajkot.
According to police, a woman customer forgot her bag inside the shop Gujarat Mobile on Thursday night. While closing the shop, the owner saw the bag and kept it in a safe place and locked the premises.
However, a spark in the battery of a toy car inside the bag triggered a fire destroying goods worth more than Rs 5 lakh.
Police said that the fire broke out inside the shop post midnight on Thursday following which the fire brigade was called. The fire was doused within an hour, said police.
Police said that while scanning the CCTV footage of the shop they saw that the fire started from inside the bag left by the woman customer. Police have roped in the forensic team and a bomb disposal team to investigate the cause of the fire.
Sajjansinh Parmar, deputy commissioner of police (zone-1) in Rajkot said, “We found a toy car inside the bag that the woman had forgotten. The primary forensic report suggests that hydrogen gas is emitted from rechargeable batteries of toys. It is not harmful if the toy is kept in the open, but in a closed place, there are chances of a spark if the gas accumulates. The spark in the battery of the toy car resulted in a fire as it came in contact with other inflammable items inside the mobile shop.”
Parmar also added that they sent parts of the toy to Gandhinagar for further forensic investigation.
He said that they are searching for the woman who forgot that bag. Prima facie, cops did not find any criminal intent behind the incident.