Investigation into the gas cylinder explosion at a residential building in Chakan near Pune on Wednesday night, which killed two people and injured four, has revealed that the blast was set off by a 19-year-old youth who was one among the deceased, officials said on Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday night, at around 9 pm, a cooking gas cylinder exploded in a house located on the first floor of a residential building in Ranubai Mala area of Chakan. The police said that the casualties in the incident were due to the burns caused by the explosion and also because of the collapse of a wall due to impact of the blast. The Ranubai Mala area is located in Khed taluka, around 30 km from Pune city.
The police had identified the deceased as Chandrabhaga Pandurang Biradwade (95) and Akshay Suresh Biradwade (19), and the four injured persons as Laxmibai Biradwade (75), Akshay’s sister Vaishnavi (17) and mother Geetanjali (39) and their neighbour Anjanabai Prabhakar Kelkar. While initially, the explosion was thought to have been caused by an accidental leakage of the gas while moving the cylinder, the investigation by the police and statement of the injured brought to light new facts.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Vivek, said: “Our investigation suggests that the 19-year-old youth, who is one of the deceased, took the cylinder into the kitchen and locked the door from inside and set off the blast. We have come to know the youth was suffering from mental illness.”
Senior Inspector Vaibhav Shingare, in-charge of Chakan police station, stated, “We have come to know that the deceased youth was receiving treatment for his mental illness. We are investigating as to why the youth took the extreme step and the sequence of events leading to it.”
Officials added that the youth had brought the gas cylinder from his uncle’s house next door. Assistant Inspector Prakash Rathod, who is investigating the case, said, “It seems that when the deceased set off the explosion, another cylinder in the kitchen also exploded. This caused heavy damages to the building.”
Officials said that Akshay died of severe burn injuries while Chandrabhaga Biradwade, living in a tin roof house next to the building, died of multiple injuries after she was crushed under the debris of the collapsed wall. After the blast, the injured were shifted to nearby hospitals where Akshay and Chandrabhaga were pronounced dead.
