Family of four dies of asphyxiation in Karnataka’s Doddaballapur

BENGALURU: In a tragic incident, four members of a family died in their sleep near Doddaballapur on the outskirts of Bengaluru on Sunday night. The police suspect that they died of asphyxiation as they had lit charcoal in a tin to ward off mosquitoes in the labour shed, where there was no ventilation. The incident occurred at Holeyarahalli in Doddabelavangala of Doddaballapura taluk. The deceased have been identified as Kale Saraki (50), his wife Lachummi Saraki (48), their 16-year-old son Kushal Saraki and Kale’s second wife Phool Kumari, aged between 35 and 40 years. The family was from Alipurduar in West Bengal and had been living in and around Bengaluru for the last 15-16 years. Police rule out foul play, await report The police said Kale and his family had started working at a poultry farm owned by one Mohan just about 10 days ago. They were living in the labour shed next to the farm. On Sunday morning, Mohan tried to contact them over the phone, but his calls were not answered. He went to check on them and found all the four dead inside the labour shed. “We received information about the incident around 8.30 am and we rushed to the spot. Prima facie, it appears that they died of asphyxiation. As there were mosquitoes in the room, they lit a charcoal loaded into a 15-litre tin and slept, closing the door and window. As there was a lot of smoke and no ventilation, it is suspected that they died of asphyxiation in their sleep. While foul play is ruled out, we are awaiting the postmortem report to know the exact cause of death,” the police said. The Doddabelavangala police registered an unnatural death report based on the complaint filed by Kale’s daughter.