Farmhouse Fire Kills Man in Sector 109

GURUGRAM: A 55-year-old man was charred to death after a servant quarter at a farmhouse in Sector 109 caught fire late Sunday, police said on Monday, with investigators pointing to a suspected electrical short circuit while the occupant was asleep.

The victim was identified as Om Prakash Singh of Kadribad in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh. Police said Singh worked as an assistant to the farmhouse owner and had lived in a quarter on the premises for several years. A senior police officer said the fire is suspected to have started from an electrical short circuit, possibly linked to an air-conditioning unit, while Singh was asleep. His body was so badly burnt that only skeletal remains could be recovered from the spot.

The officer said smoke built up inside the closed quarter, that Singh likely fell unconscious in his sleep, and that the fire then consumed the room. Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram Police, said the incident came to light on Monday morning when farmhouse employees arrived and noticed smoke from the quarter. They went inside, found the interior charred, spotted human skeletal remains and alerted police.

Turan said no one nearby appears to have noticed the blaze earlier because the farmhouse stands in a secluded pocket. Police believe the fire began on Sunday night. Family members were informed. Turan said they had not alleged foul play so far and that further action would follow after relatives reach the city on Tuesday.

Sector 109 farmhouses sit near the Dwarka Expressway belt, where many properties keep staff quarters separate from the main house. Electrical faults in closed rooms, especially where cooling equipment runs overnight, can spread quickly if smoke alarms are absent or go unheard. Police said the scene was sealed for examination and that cause-of-fire findings would depend on technical inspection of wiring and fittings.

Until relatives record their statement, officers are treating the matter as a suspected accidental fire pending inquest formalities. The skeletal condition of the remains means identification rested on employment records and family confirmation rather than facial recognition at the spot. Turan stressed that employees discovered the scene only when they returned for the Monday shift.

Local fire and police teams handled the aftermath after the alert. No other occupant of the farmhouse was reported injured. Investigators will record statements of the owner, staff who found the smoke, and any neighbours who may have noticed unusual activity overnight. Allegations of foul play have not been raised by the family at this stage, police said, and the probe will move according to the post-mortem and fire-origin findings once relatives arrive.