Electrical fault led to car blaze, police book Maruti dealer
Bengaluru (DHNS): Police have booked Kalyani Motors, an authorised dealer and service centre for Maruti Suzuki, for the February 2 car fire that killed a mother and her son in East Bengaluru.
They ruled out foul play after initial probe and are convinced that the car with the 30-year-old woman and her four-year-old son went up in a ball of fire due to a mechanical and electrical fault.
A senior police officer said service personnel could be held culpable if faults in the car’s system proved fatal. He also said police were awaiting the forensic report to ascertain the cause of the fire.
Police have also summoned the workers of Kalyani Motors and Maruti agency for questioning to find out the cause of the accident.
Madhur Varma, the uncle of Neha Varma who was charred to death in the accident, told DH that the 2009 model Maruti Ritz VXI had been serviced twice last year. “The vehicle had been comprehensively overhauled in March 2017, for which the bill came up to Rs 27,000,” Varma said.
He said relays, clutch assembly and break shoes were replaced and the vehicle was given an oil change during the service. The second service in July was a routine one with oil changes to the engine and gear box.
Varma also added that no modification was made to the car since only three people – Neha, her businessman husband Rajesh and his father – had used it.
On the afternoon of February 2, Neha, a homemaker, had taken her son Param for lunch at the Herbs and Spices restaurant in Whitefield. Finishing the lunch at 1.30 pm, and paying the bill in Param’s name, the duo went for shopping at Virginia Mall in Whitefield, located opposite the Forum Mall.
While parking the car at the basement of their apartment complex, it went up in flames. Security personnel assumed that it was unoccupied. The charred bodies of Neha and her son were found after the flames were doused.