Kolkata (The Statesman/ANN) - The charred body of a 32-year-old employee of Pricewaterhouse Coopers was found today at his home in Kendua near Patuli in South 24-Parganas.
Based on preliminary investigations, police officers believe that the victim, Sayan Chowdhury, fell asleep while working on his laptop last night. He was also listening to music through earphones connected to the computer. Police think that as the laptop was charged, there was a problem with the switchboard in the charger, which led to the fire. The switch board was too close to the bed, they said, so a spark from the switch board set the bed on fire.
Police are not, though, ruling out the possibility that the fire was started by an enemy of the victim.
Police said that smoke was seen coming from the room around 7 a.m. The victim's family members broke open the door, and found the room filled with smoke. They called the state fire and emergency services department, but managed to douse the flame before the firefighters arrived.
A local doctor confirmed that the victim was dead, and the police were told about the incident.
The police sent the body for autopsy.
A senior police officer said a team of senior officials from the state forensic laboratory will visit the scene tomorrow and the victim's laptop, mobile phone, and other electronic gadgets have been sent for forensic tests. The forensic report will confirm whether the fire broke out due to a problem with the switch board in the laptop charger.
Mr Biswarup Ghosh, the deputy commissioner, (south suburban division) said: "The autopsy report is very important in this case as we are in the dark as to what led to the fire in his room. We will also look into whether the victim had any enemies."
