Yelahanka hotel fire: Owners booked

The Bengaluru city police have registered a case against the owners of a lodge, where two people died after a fire broke out on Monday.

According to the police, the incident took place at the hotel on Akashavani Road near Attur Layout. Kaveri Badigera, 25, from Bagalakot, and Ramesh Bandivaddar, 22, from Gajendraghada in Gadag, were found dead inside the room of a city hotel.

According to the FIR, Kaveri contacted her employer when the fire broke out, sending her location and requesting help. By the time he arrived, Ramesh was charred to death, and Kaveri had died of suffocation inside the same room’s washroom.

The complainant, Kaveri’s employer, alleged that the hotel did not have a fire exit or fire safety equipment. The lodge lacked adequate ventilation, which, according to the complainant, contributed to Kaveri’s death.

Based on the complaint, Yelahanka New Town police have filed an FIR charging the owners for offences including death by a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide under BNS.

A senior police officer told The Hindu that samples from the crime scene have been sent for forensic testing and results are awaited. “We do not yet know the source of the fire, but it appears to be self-harm. We will have a clearer picture once we get the forensic report,” the official said.

While earlier reports suggested that the deceased were a couple, the police are yet to verify this. Kaveri worked as housekeeping staff at a spa, and Ramesh was a daily wage labourer.