Binjharpur: A man was charred to death in his sleep while household goods were reduced to ashes after a massive fire at Dandisahi village under this block in Jajpur district late Sunday night, reports said.
The deceased has been identified as Jagabandhu Das, 64. While everyone woke up and ran to save their lives, Das could not move out of the house and was burnt alive.
While the exact reason of the fire was not known immediately, locals suspected that it could be due to short-circuit.
According to sources, the family went to bed after sleep. Meanwhile, over some unknown reason, a sudden fire broke out inside the house. While the family members woke up due to the commotion and ran out to save their lives, the fire soon engulfed the whole house before Das could escape.
The elderly man was trapped inside and was charred to death. Locals woke up and tried to douse the flames, but in vain. Fire brigade personnel were called who extinguished the fire. However, Das was charred to death by then.
On receipt of information, police reached the village and sent the charred remains for post-mortem. A case of unnatural death was registered in this connection.
As Das was a poor man and was left with no breadwinners to take care of his family, locals demanded government relief for his family.
Sarpanch Tarun Kumar Sahu, samiti member Surendra Sahu and others paid their homage to Das and extended some help. When contacted, block chairperson Nanda Kishore Samal assured that necessary help would be provided to the family as per government norms.
PNN