Four members of a family from West Bengal were found dead inside their single room accommodation at a poultry farm in Bengaluru Rural district of Karnataka, police said on Monday.
The deceased have been identified as Kale Sariki (60), Lakshmi Sariki (50), Usha Sariki (40), and Pool Sariki (16), they said.
The family hailed from Alipurduar district in West Bengal and were working at a poultry farm in Holeyarahalli, near Doddabelavangala in Doddaballapur taluk since last 10 days.
Preliminary probe has suggested asphyxiation to be the cause of death. However, police is awaiting autopsy report to ascertain the exact cause of death, a senior police officer said.
According to police, the incident came to light on Sunday morning when Kale’s daughter who works in a nearby village approached police. When none of her family members responded to her calls, she came to the poultry farm to check on them and saw smoke coming out of the closed windows of the house.
"Our police team reached the spot and broke open the door of the house which was locked from inside. The entire room was filled with smoke. We found a charcoal heater, some leaves and bodies of the family members lying. Experts from Forensic Science Laboratory were also called in and samples were lifted from the spot. Post-mortem was conducted at Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru following which the bodies were handed over to their relatives on Sunday," the senior police officer said.
Preliminary probe revealed that on Saturday night, after dinner, the four family members slept as usual in their single room accommodation which did not have proper ventilation. Since it was raining, the family had used a charcoal heater and some leaves as an alternative to mosquito repellent to keep them warm and protect themselves from mosquitoes, he said.
"Since the accommodation did not have proper ventilation and the door was closed from inside, gradually the smoke from the burning charcoal engulfed the entire room leading to suffocation. Their (victims) lungs were affected and initial reports suggest that they died due to asphyxiation," the officer added.
Police ruled out any foul play in the incident saying no visible injuries were found on the bodies, Also, there was no sign of any kind of poisonous substance inside.
"A case of unnatural death has been registered at Doddabelavangala police station under Criminal Procedure Code 174 and further investigation is on. We are awaiting post-mortem report to ascertain the exact cause of death," said Bengaluru Rural district superintendent of police Mallikarjuna Baladandi.
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