Man dies after getting trapped in burning car

New Delhi, May 27: A 23-year-old hardware professional, son of a retired Border Security Force officer, died after being burnt alive inside his Swift car on Saturday morning. The deceased, Ashish Rathi, was a resident of Daulatabad village in Gurgaon. The incident took place around 9.30am near Barusarai area of Najafgarh, southwest Delhi.

Rathi was brought to the Safdarjung Hospital with 95% burn injuries and was declared dead on arrival. While cops claim that it was an accident (on the basis of prima facie evidence), Ashish's father Sukhir Rathi has alleged foul play.

According to Soni, the prime witness and the one who made the PCR call, he was walking down the fields on Saturday morning when he noticed fire emitting from the engine of a diesel-run white Swift car (HR 26AW 5784).

"I heard shouts from the direction of a car and some locals rushed to help. But a man was trapped inside the burning car and he could not come out as the central locking system refused to give way. Police arrived within a few minutes, followed by a fire tender. But the man was charred beyond recognition by then,'' said Soni.

The deceased had left his home around 8am. The fire activated the central-locking system in the car and therefore the car doors did not open, police said. "The entire car was burnt and we could hardly identify the deceased. The car-owner was traced by studying the chassis of the car. The car has been seized and it will be taken to the forensic lab in Rohini. The car manufacturer might also be asked to help us in the investigations,'' said an officer.

Since Safdarjung Hospital was shut for the day, the family is yet to lay claim to the body. "The car was newly bought and there couldn't be any major problem with it,'' a family member said.

Delhi fire chief A K Sharma said, "There can be a number of reasons for the fire to have begun in the first place. We have collected whatever evidence we could and our forensic results will be crucial in this case.''

Earlier this year, a 52-year-old man died after his car caught fire in Delhi Cantonment area. Pawan Kumar Gupta was on his way to Rohini from IGI airport when the engine of his WagonR caught fire and he died after being locked inside the car, police said.