The city police probing the fire breakout at Kochi Corporation’s solid waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram are gearing up to send samples collected from the active fire zone of the plant for detailed scientific examination through the court concerned.
The police have collected samples from various locations spread across acres as part of finding out whether the fire was designed as a sabotage. For the time being, the police have registered a case for unnatural fire occurrence.
“We will now have to detect the reasons for the fire and the involvement of accused, if any, in which case the relevant sections would be added,” said a senior official associated with the probe.
The police have been on the receiving end of considerable flak from the Opposition for not initiating a probe much earlier. The police, however, on their part, claimed that they have already collected electronic and documentary evidence besides recording the statements of all those who were present at the plant on the day of the fire breakout. The statements of the contractor concerned had also been recorded though its veracity is yet to be cross verified, the officer said.
“We have collected CCTV visuals of five days preceding the fire and are analysing it for possible sabotage, including trespass. We will have to look into visuals of even more days,” said the officer.
He said that collection of samples days after the actual incident would not hamper the investigation or blur the potential sabotage angle in any way. It is precisely for this reason that we have collected samples from a wide area. For instance, if someone had set fire using fuel, then traces of it could be discovered even days after and notwithstanding the fact that firefighters had tossed around the fire zone.
The police are also looking into the possibility of approaching global agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), agency of the U.S. federal government for the civil space programme, to obtain satellite imagery to help with their probe.
