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Bengaluru: Five people, including a family of four, were charred to death after a fire broke out at a plastic articles manufacturing unit in Nagarthapet here, police said.

Police have identified the victims as Madan Singh (38) and Sangeetha (33) and their two children Mithesh (7) and Vihaan (5) and neighbour Suresh Kumar (26).

Madan Singh was a native of Rajasthan and had been renting the building for nearly 10 years. He ran a small manufacturing unit that made plastic kitchen items as well as mats and steel kitchen utensils. He was residing on the top floor of the building.

Speaking to reporters later in the day, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru, Seemanth Kumar Singh said most likely an electric short circuit could have triggered the fire.

The fire started on the ground floor and then spread to the second and third floors. The room on the third floor, where the bodies of the woman and the two children were found, was locked from outside, he said.

A complaint has been filed by Gopal Singh, elder brother of Madan, at the Halasuru Gate Police Station.

According to the complaint, building owners constructed the building illegally without obtaining safety clearances or proper permissions, and without making arrangements for adequate lighting, ventilation, or emergency exits.

“They rented the premises for shops, godowns, and even for residential purposes without taking any precautionary measures, knowing well that in the event of fire or other accidents, there would be no means to escape,” stated the complaint.

A Fire Department official said they received the call at around 3.14 am.

Eight vehicles were deployed and 55 firefighters and 21 officers were at the scene trying to control the fire, said the official.

“It is a kind of godown with a lot of things stored inside, making it difficult to put out the fire,” he added.

The building is situated in a densely populated trading hub in the city. The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained and the rescue work is ongoing, officials said.