Gurgaon: Two daily wagers were burnt to death after a pre-dawn blaze ripped through a plywood and wood-processing factory in Pakhal village of Faridabad early on Friday, leaving the unit gutted and raising questions over safety arrangements.Police said the fire broke out around 2.30am at Dream Private Limited, where large quantities of plywood and other flammable material had been stored. The two workers who died were Mohammad Aalim (20), and Arvind (26), both from Sambhal in UP. They had joined the factory only a few days earlier and were sleeping inside the premises when the fire started.Preliminary findings pointed to an electrical short circuit, which officials said allowed the flames to spread rapidly through the stock, turning the factory into a tinderbox. Fire brigade teams reached the spot after an alert and fought the blaze for a couple of hours. The intensity of the fire, police said, initially made it difficult to confirm whether anyone was trapped inside.During a cooling and search operation on Saturday, police and rescue teams recovered the two charred remains from the premises, confirming the deaths. Police sources said it could be that the two men managed to come out when the fire started but possibly went back in to collect belongings and were then trapped as the flames intensified. Officials said the exact sequence would be established after a detailed probe.Darpan Kumar, the Dhauj police station in-charge, said they were examining all angles. He said the factory owner was on the run and efforts were on to trace him, adding that his statement would be crucial. The bodies were sent to BK Hospital and Civil Hospital for autopsy and forensic analysis to determine the precise cause of death and whether any other factors were involved.Police are also checking whether the factory had a valid fire NOC and if mandatory fire safety norms were being followed. “If negligence or violations are found, strict legal action will be taken,” an official said.Statements of the victims’ families are being recorded, and further legal steps will follow the inquiry’s findings, Kumar said.
