Thiruvanathapuram: A preliminary investigation into the cause of the fire that broke out in the General Administration Department at the Kerala Secretariat on Tuesday, has revealed that the fire originated from a fan in a closed room here.
The plastic coating of the fan caught fire due to overheating and eventually caught on to the curtain, shelves and papers in the closed room, a report filed by the PWC Chief Engineer stated.
The report has been submitted to Public Works Minister G Sudhakaran.
The room in concern was kept shut on August 24 and 25 for disinfection as per COVID-19 protocol.
"The fire originated from the faulty fan," the minister said.
"An expert committee including the Chief Electrical Engineer has been appointed for a detailed investigation. The final report will be submitted to the state government after the committee concludes their investigation," the minister said.
The FIR on the case states that files dealing with the guest house notifications and permits were destroyed in the fire.
Meanwhile, the Protocol Division has informed that major files have not been destroyed in the fire.
The fire originated in the room storing details of visitors in government guest houses. All the files related to the UAE Consulate were stored in paper form till 2018.
“The files requested by NIA and Customs have already been produced,” the Protocol department added.
The cantonment police have registered a case after the GAD filed a complaint on the matter.
The head of the official investigation committee appointed by the Chief Secretary, Dr A Kowsigan IAS, police special investigation chief Manoj Abraham and Special Cell investigation officer SP Ajith visited the site of fire on Wednesday as part of the investigation.
Forensic and fingerprinting experts also visited the site.
Meanwhile, the Home Department's Additional Secretary has been asked to rectify the safety lapses and strengthen the security features at the Secretariat.
