Close shave for 17 as prison van turns into fireball in Lucknow

LUCKNOW A major tragedy was averted on Tuesday afternoon when a prison van ferrying 17 people, including women jail inmates and women cops, suddenly turned into a fireball in front of Raj Bhawan gate no. 14 in the state capital. One of the fire tenders at the Raj Bhavan was pressed into service to douse the flames and no one was injured in the incident, said officials.
The jail inmates were being taken from Gosainganj district jail to the district court when the incident took place, said Vikram Singh, station house officer, Hazratganj.
Van driver Balvendra Singh Patel, 30, told the fire department that a spark near the GPS and camera installed in the driver’s cabin caused the fire. The incident raised a question on the fitness of the vehicle, but senior officials, when contacted, declined to comment on the matter.
“As many as 18-19 people were on board the van,” said RK Rawat, fire station officer (FSO), Hazratganj, adding that the blaze was controlled promptly. But the Hazratganj police said there were 17 people including seven cops, a male driver and nine women jail inmates.
“It was due to the driver’s promptness and outpost in-charge’s presence of mind that a possible tragedy was averted. The inmates were not handcuffed as the van gates were closed from outside,” said Arvind Kumar Verma, ACP (Hazratganj).
The driver said he spotted sparks near the camera and GPS, after which he immediately stopped the vehicle near gate no 14 of Raj Bhawan, where Sachivalay chowki in-charge Rahul Kumar, 31, was on duty. As the van was locked from outside, Singh quickly told Kumar to open the door. When Kumar opened the door, the women cops helped all inmates exit the van, said the SHO.
The inmates were boarded on to another police vehicle without having to stand on the road for a long time. “Cops deployed at gate no 14 quickly came to the rescue while teams of Hazratganj police and fire department also reached the spot, taking control over the situation,” said Vikram Singh.
“Bus-like vehicles called DCM vans are kept on standby mode near Hazratganj,” the SHO added.
“Soon after the prisoners were deboarded from the burning van, the chowki in-charge alerted the bus-like vehicle and boarded them on to it for their destination,” the ACP informed.
“The control room of fire station Hazratganj received information about the incident at 11:46am. A unit with a fire tanker from Hazratganj fire station and a fire tanker deployed on Vidhan Sabha duty reached the site. The fire was then extinguished” said chief fire officer Mangesh Kumar.