Fire breaks out at Forensic Lab; files of scams gutted
Hyderabad: A major fire broke out in the computer wing of the Telangana Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Red Hills on Saturday morning. One staff member was injured, while many computers, hard disks and documents pertaining to several scams were gutted in the fire.
Police, who launched an immediate probe into the accident, fear that crucial evidence related to major cases like phone-tapping, vote for note and reports of investigations of other important cases were also damaged.
A fire tender each from the Legislative Assembly, Secretariat, Gandhi Outpost, Secunderabad and Langar Houz was rushed to the spot, while traffic was diverted as firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control. A fire-fighting robot was also deployed to douse the fire.
“Initially, the fire fighters had trouble making it to the first floor of the building due to heavy smoke.
Later, they managed to enter wearing self-control breathing apparatus,” said police officials, present at the site. The police said that according to preliminary estimates, an electrical short-circuit could have triggered the blaze.
“We suspect the fire started due to a short circuit in the computer lab on the first floor. At this stage, we cannot say anything about the equipment that has been damaged,” said DCP (Khairatabad) K Shilpavalli. Fire department officials said that the fire was brought under control within three hours.
